Impact Spotlights

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  • This Former Rugby Player is Now a Game-Changing Inventor

    This Former Rugby Player is Now a Game-Changing Inventor

    Personal experience drove Jessie Garcia to create her novel head impact indicator. Identify a problem, then work to solve it. That’s the basic formula for invention, and that’s exactly how Jessie Garcia came to create the Tozuda Head Impact Indicator, a tiny tool that attaches to a helmet and signals to its wearer when a…

  • The Power of Invention Education: A STEM Policy Expert Shares Her Perspective

    The Power of Invention Education: A STEM Policy Expert Shares Her Perspective

    Engaging. Motivational. Confidence-building. These are just some of the words advocates use to describe the benefits of Invention Education. A powerful method of instruction, Invention Education gives teachers a hands-on format for challenging their students in a way that not only builds problem-solving, creativity, and critical thinking skills but is also incredibly rewarding. Behind the…

  • Fighting Infant Mortality Through Hypothermia Detection

    Fighting Infant Mortality Through Hypothermia Detection

    Narain’s TempWatch bracelet, a wearable device that monitors a newborn’s temperature. Biomedical engineer Ratul Narain’s monitoring devices help detect hypothermia and other illnesses in underweight newborns. Every year, 20 million clinically underweight babies are born worldwide. Of these, eight million are born in India, where many parents don’t have easy access to neonatal care resources.…

  • It’s Not Always Easy Being Green, But It Should Be

    It’s Not Always Easy Being Green, But It Should Be

    A pioneer in the field of green chemistry, John Warner talks about the successes and challenges in creating sustainable change. John Warner is, to put it mildly, passionate about his work. He is a prolific inventor holding more than 300 patents, as well as an educator and entrepreneur. He is most passionate when talking about…

  • The Surge in Climate Action Requires a Surge in Green Talent, but How on Earth to Fill the Gap?

    The Surge in Climate Action Requires a Surge in Green Talent, but How on Earth to Fill the Gap?

    Creating a new generation of engineers skilled in sustainability is an investment in the health of people and the planet

  • 2022 Inventors’ Day Roundup: Faces of Invention

    2022 Inventors’ Day Roundup: Faces of Invention

    As we confront complex issues like climate change, sustainable energy, and equitable access to food and healthcare, one throughline is constant: progress and innovation are inextricably linked. In 1992, prolific inventor Jerry Lemelson and his wife Dolly founded The Lemelson Foundation to support  invention that improves lives and strengthens economies. Since then, the Foundation has…

  • Seven Lessons from a First-time Inventor-Entrepreneur

    Seven Lessons from a First-time Inventor-Entrepreneur

    Tricia Compas-Markman’s journey from engineering to founding a startup for safe drinking water brings valuable takeaways for innovators. I believe that invention can help solve some of our most pressing challenges and improve living conditions for communities across the globe. In particular, disaster relief is an area where innovation can save lives, especially as climate…

  • How One High School Teacher and an Invention Project Made All the Difference

    How One High School Teacher and an Invention Project Made All the Difference

    Ford Grundberg and his former teacher Doug Scott Now a satellite orbital analyst, Ford Grundberg used to intentionally blow off his schoolwork. Then an invention education experience changed his life. Ford Grundberg was a sophomore in high school in Natick, Massachusetts, when he met Doug Scott. It was during a study hall, and Mr. Scott…

  • These Inventor Entrepreneurs Are Solving Global Health Challenges

    These Inventor Entrepreneurs Are Solving Global Health Challenges

    From better neonatal care to affordable and accessible diagnostics, invention-based businesses are addressing health disparities and spurring economic growth. Whether COVID-19 or pneumonia, blindness or jaundice, many health conditions can be improved or even prevented when people have access to the right care. But according to the United Nations, less than half of the global…

  • Microtechnology, Medicine and Mentoring: One Inventor’s Formula for Success

    Microtechnology, Medicine and Mentoring: One Inventor’s Formula for Success

    Sangeeta Bhatia is a leader in advancing human health care — and a role model for other women interested in STEM. At her lab at MIT, Sangeeta Bhatia is singlehandedly inspiring a new generation of inventors through a combination of humor and pragmatism. “One thing I like to tell the students, just to set their…

  • Meet the Woman Who Forged an Entirely New Scientific Field

    Meet the Woman Who Forged an Entirely New Scientific Field

    Chemical biologist Carolyn Bertozzi is blazing a trail in the way cancer and other diseases may be diagnosed and treated.

  • From Nature to New Materials: This MIT Professor’s Inventions Are Rooted in Biology

    From Nature to New Materials: This MIT Professor’s Inventions Are Rooted in Biology

    An abalone shell inspired Angela Belcher to pursue a career in engineering and cancer research.  Angela Belcher likes to make things. Her medium of choice? Atoms.  “When you take a couple of atoms and you arrange them in different ways and build them into different shapes,” she says, “it changes their properties.”  In nature, those…