Invention Notebook

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  • To Empower Impact Entrepreneurs to Solve the World’s Problems, First Support the Incubators

    To Empower Impact Entrepreneurs to Solve the World’s Problems, First Support the Incubators

    In its early days, the Covid-19 pandemic brought most activities to a grinding halt. But there’s one activity that it absolutely ignited: medical innovation. Imagine microbrewers in North Carolina jumping lanes to make hand sanitizer instead of beer, or a 3-D printing startup in Kenya using its machines to manufacture personal protective equipment (PPE), or…

  • Helping Inventors Get “Unstuck”

    Helping Inventors Get “Unstuck”

    Engineer and entrepreneur Sorin Grama focuses on sustainability and innovation in his work. Read more about Grama’s path to entrepreneurship here. At The Lemelson Foundation, we believe that inventors and inventions are critical to making the world a better place. Our grantees and partners are supporting the creation of innovative products that address some of our…

  • Building Trust and Confidence Through Invention Education

    Building Trust and Confidence Through Invention Education

    Teacher Natalie Mondesir supervises recess at Liberty Elementary School in Midway, GA. In a rural Georgia elementary school, teacher Natalie Mondesir is inspiring hundreds of students to think outside the box. One year at Christmas time, Natalie Mondesir bought a package of candy canes for her students. Like all fourth graders, the children were excited…

  • Empowering Underrepresented Students to Become Entrepreneurs

    Empowering Underrepresented Students to Become Entrepreneurs

    Dr. Sylvia Robles founded the “Adopt a Startup” program at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley to encourage entrepreneurship in students and foster sustainability in local businesses. Through her groundbreaking Adopt a Startup program, Dr. Sylvia Robles is inspiring — and incubating — the next generation of sustainability-focused entrepreneurs. How do you support youth…

  • Why Invention Education Will Lead to a Future Full of Innovators

    Why Invention Education Will Lead to a Future Full of Innovators

    A hands-on, inclusive approach to learning, Invention Education gives students agency and the confidence they need to become problem-solvers. Picture a classroom full of students engaged in their learning. But they don’t have books or computers in front of them. Instead, they have cardboard boxes, rubber bands, and duct tape — or maybe circuit boards…

  • 2023 Inventor’s Day Roundup: Inventing for a Better Future

    2023 Inventor’s Day Roundup: Inventing for a Better Future

    These innovators are changing the face of invention — and working to change the world. A hundred years ago this year, Jerry Lemelson was born into a world that was being transformed by the power of invention. He himself became a prolific and versatile inventor, with more than 600 patents across a wide range of…

  • These Teens Plan To Change The World Through Invention

    These Teens Plan To Change The World Through Invention

    For Jeanelle Dao and Prisha Shroff, personal experience plus a commitment to improving lives equals a steady drive to make the world a better place. At age 13, Prisha Shroff saw something that made her want to change the world. She was driving with her family from Los Angeles to their home in Chandler, Arizona,…

  • How to Integrate Sustainability Into College Engineering Curricula

    How to Integrate Sustainability Into College Engineering Curricula

    A pilot program across five U.S.-based higher education institutions is shedding light on successful steps toward systems change. Engineering is one of the most fundamental contributors to human health and prosperity. From consumer goods to hardware and software products to buildings and modes of transportation, the solutions that engineers create are core to nearly every…

  • From STEM to Spotify: How an After-School Invention Program Helped Launch a Career in Big Tech

    From STEM to Spotify: How an After-School Invention Program Helped Launch a Career in Big Tech

    After moving from Vietnam to the U.S. in fourth grade, Spotify engineer Thien Nguyen discovered his love for math, as well as a supportive community, through his new school’s MESA program. Engineer Thien Nguyen discovered his facility for numbers and a supportive community through Invention Education. Thien Nguyen was born in Vietnam and lived there…

  • Meet the College Inventor Who Is Making Medicine More Equitable

    Meet the College Inventor Who Is Making Medicine More Equitable

    Inventor Dasia Taylor is one of those people who seems destined to change the world. At just 14 years old, she was consulting at Harvard on the topic of equity. Now 19, Dasia is in the process of patenting her first medical device — low-cost sutures that switch color if an infection has occurred, an…

  • This Georgia Classroom Runs on Invention Education

    This Georgia Classroom Runs on Invention Education

    Audrey Cristelli and her advanced learning teacher, Lisa Rogers, at Audrey’s 5th grade graduation. At Smyrna Elementary School near Atlanta, prizewinning student inventor Audrey Cristelli learned from educator Lisa Rogers how to think outside the box. Audrey Cristelli was just 10 years old when she had the idea — what if there was a gamified…

  • Meet the Woman Who is Transforming Early Breast Cancer Detection in India

    Meet the Woman Who is Transforming Early Breast Cancer Detection in India

    Through her novel thermal imaging device, Indian entrepreneur Geetha Manjunath is making breast cancer screening more accessible to more women. What compels a PhD in computer science to become a pioneer in cancer detection? In the case of Indian entrepreneur Geetha Manjunath, the answer is heartbreak, combined with a passion for helping people in need.…