Lemelson-MIT InvenTeams

InvenTeams, an initiative to foster inventiveness in high school students, was launched in October 2002 by The Lemelson-MIT Program. InvenTeams are formed by high school students, their teachers and industry mentors for the purpose of inventing something of value for their schools or local communities. Special care is taken to select teams that reflect a range of school settings, student populations, and project proposals.

The 2007-2008 Lemelson-MIT InvenTeams come from public and private and high schools in urban, suburban and rural communities across the United States. The grant recipients and their proposed inventions are:

East

• Charles Herbert Flowers High School (Springdale, Md.): Portable lock device for the blind
• Gann Academy (Waltham, Mass.): Weight-stabilizing compact stretcher
• Hiram High School (Hiram, Ga.): Automated floor mop and dryer
• Norview High School (Norfolk, Va.): Adaptive communication device for people with cerebral palsy
• Rockport High School (Rockport, Mass.): Pneumatic auto-deployment system for emergency position-indicating radio beacons on fishing vessels
• Saratoga Springs High School (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.): Plant and flower success indicator to measure garden conditions
• Sidwell Friends School (Washington, D.C.): Ice and frost prevention device for windshields

Central

• Brillion High School (Brillion, Wis.): Electric all-terrain multi-purpose lifting machine
• Edgewood Fine Arts Academy (San Antonio, Texas): Robotic butterfly
• Farmington Harrison High School (Farmington Hills, Mich.): Aquatic autonomous remote monitoring system to measure ecological variables
• Great River School (St. Paul, Minn.): Aerial wind-sensing device that determines optimal locations for wind turbines
• Saint Thomas Academy (Mendota Heights, Minn.): Electric motorcycle with compressible "crush zones" for urban commuter safety
• University of Chicago Laboratory School (Chicago, Ill.): Automatic pancake machine that integrates Web 2.0 technology

West

• Oregon Episcopal School (Portland, Ore.): Human-powered irrigation pump
• Troy High School (Fullerton, Calif.): Robotic coconut tree climbing device
• West Valley High School (Spokane, Wash.): Fish "escalator" to ferry salmon over man-made dams and into their spawning grounds

In addition to the 16 new InvenTeams this year, matching grants up to $2,000 are available to continuing InvenTeams to help sustain their interest in invention and extend the InvenTeams experience to more students. Continuation funds have enabled the Littleton High School InvenTeam from Littleton, N.H., to sustain a culture of invention and interest among students since its inaugural year in 2002-2003.

Every spring, InvenTeams have the opportunity to demonstrate their inventions at the InvenTeams Odyssey at the MIT campus in Cambridge, Mass. This year, the InvenTeams Odyssey will be part of the Lemelson-MIT Program's EurekaFest, which brings together prominent inventors, students and the Greater Boston community for a weeklong celebration of the inventive spirit.

The InvenTeams initiative grew out of the Lemelson-MIT Program's annual High School Invention Apprenticeship, a national program that provided a hands-on learning experience to individual high school students.