Student Inventions that are Making an Impact

Each year in April, Edison Universe celebrates student inventors with a contest that allows students to showcase their inventions for an opportunity to win one of several scholarships. Many students submitted entries, and the following three inventions were selected as student recipients of the 2017 Edison Award.

NOVA Personal UV Sensor 

Invented by students Kali Watkins, Connor French and Brooke Mitchell of Park City, Utah, the NOVA Personal UV Sensor was developed to help prevent skin cancer and to help people develop healthy sun-exposure habits. The commercial version of the invention measures the sunburning portion of the UV spectrum. It allows the user to display UV index, dose rate, and daily accumulated dose. It is available online and sells for $375 at NovaLynx.

Intonation Portable Piano Keyboard

Piano keyboards, even the modern electronic versions, are bulky and difficult to store and transport. The Intonation Portable Piano Keyboard invented by students Hannah Chen and Seth Mazza of Peoria, Arizona can be broken down into designated segments for easy storage and transportation. Our search of the internet did not reveal any information regarding patents on this invention, nor did it reveal any commercially available version of the invention. However, there are a few videos on YouTube which suggest that others are working on similar concepts – Portable Piano First Prototype and Travel anywhere with real portable piano keyboard. Hopefully Chen and Mazza timely filed a patent application for their invention and a trademark application to protect that catchy name to protect their valuable intellectual property!

IKOS Toys

Park City, Utah is home to a program called CAPS, a hands-on engineering program that allows students to explore the real world during high school hours. It is also the home of the third 2017 student Edison Award winners who created IKOS™, a modular spherical construction toy for innovative kids of all ages. This innovative product has won multiple consumer awards, including Creative Child Magazine’s 2016 Puzzle of the Year and Product of the Year Awards. It is available online at IKOS Toys.

These student winners of the Edison Award have looked at problems within their community and have come up with innovative solutions. With the assistance of the Edison scholarship, they will be able to take their innovative spirit to the next level at the college of their choice.

Does your student have a great idea? The final deadline for 2018 Edison Award Nominations is November 17, 2017. To qualify for consideration, the product or service must be launched and available to end-users between July 1, 2016 and February 28, 2018. Winners are announced at the Edison Awards Gala in New York, NY in April 2008.

Before getting too far down the road, it’s important to identify and protect any intellectual property (patents, trademarks, copyrights and/or trade secrets) associated with your student’s innovative product or service. Contact us today to see how we can help you identify and protect these valuable assets.