Collegiate Inventors Competition

Collegiate Inventors Competition has recognized, rewarded, and encouraged hundreds of students to share their inventive ideas with the world. The Competition promotes exploration in invention, science, engineering, technology, and other creative endeavors and provides a window on the technologies from which society will benefit in the future.

Students must be enrolled (or have been enrolled) full-time in any U.S. or Canadian college or university at least part of the 12-month period prior to the date the entry is submitted. In the case of a team (maximum of four students), at least one member of the team must meet the full-time eligibility criteria.  The other team members must have been enrolled on a part-time basis (at a minimum) sometime during the 24-month period prior to the date the entry is submitted.

REQUIREMENTS

The entry must be the original idea and work product of a student or team of students with his or her university advisor and must not have been (1) made available to the public as a commercial product or process, (2) described in extensive detail in a publication more than one year prior to the date of submission, or (3) issued a patent more than one year prior to the date of submission. On rare occassions exceptions may be made to allow the submission of significant recent improvements to matter patented or published more than one year prior to submission of the application. The entry submitted must be written in English.

The invention, a reduced-to-practice idea or working prototype, must be the work of a student or team of students with his or her university advisor. If it is a machine, it must be operable. If it is a chemical, it must be complete with evidence of successful application of the idea. If it is a new plant, color photographs or slides must be included in the submission. If a new or original ornamental design for an article of manufacture is submitted, the entire design must be included in the application. In addition, the invention should be capable of being reproduced.

DEADLINE

• The 2012 Collegiate Inventors Competition deadline is June 15, 2012.

TIPS FOR PREPARING ENTRIES

The following suggestions may help you in preparing your entry. Although these things will not guarantee a winner, they are traits consistently found in past winning applications:

• TYPED with pages numbered and stapled together (not permanently bound).
• CLEAR and to the point. What is your invention? It is important to articulate what the invention is and why it is an invention. The judges want to know specifically what you are adding to the technology. After writing your submission, consider asking a colleague to read it for clarity. It may also help to have someone review it who is not familiar with your work. Spelling and grammatical errors affect how your entry is judged.
• CONCISE. The more concise the better. Avoid jargon. Superfluous materials (e.g., research papers or journal articles on unrelated subject matter) detract from a strong entry. In order to get maximum scoring points, be sure that your essay covers all requested information.
• COMPLETE. A checklist is included in the application for your convenience.
• CONVINCING. It is up to you to convince judges that your entry is the best of many high quality inventions. Although the judges are experienced researchers, they may not be familiar with your particular project or specialty. Describe your work in the most positive, comprehensible manner, understandable to a scientifically literate person (e.g., like what is published in Scientific American or Nature publications).

CHECKLIST

The application must include:

• Student Information
• Student Essay, including supplementary material
• Literature/Patent Research
• Advisor Information
• Advisor Letter
• Statement of Student Enrollment Status
• Student/Advisor Release Form

Download Entry Form here

2012 Entry Form (with fields)

2012 Entry Form (without fields)

• The entry form must be completed and assembled along with the required information.
• Hard copies must be mailed to the Collegiate Inventors Competition. E-mails or faxes will not be accepted.
• Please email at [email protected] if you encounter problems accessing the application.  Will be happy to email you a copy.

QUESTIONS

• Call 800.968.4332, option 5
• Or send e-mail to [email protected]

collegiate inventors, Collegiate Inventors Competition, competition awards, competition winning entries, invention competition, inventors competition, inventors contest, Student Competition, student inventors scholarships,

.