
The Lemelson Foundation’s Executive Director Rob Schneider and VentureWell’s President and CEO Phil Weilerstein share insights from decades of impact investing to support inventors and innovators creating solutions that cultivate a more sustainable and equitable world.

Four recommendations for my colleagues in the sustainable development sector on the vital role of local, invention-based enterprises By any standard, 2020 has been a landmark year of disruption. For the development community, this disruption occurs at the beginning of the final decade to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), our shared blueprint to improve…

The fourteen-year-old’s innovation could potentially help people with hearing loss. At the 2020 Broadcom MASTERS® (Math, Applied Science, Technology, and Engineering for Rising Stars) competition, The Lemelson Foundation awarded the Lemelson Award for Invention to Julian Olschwang of Los Angeles, California. His project, called Talk to the Hand, is a low-cost sign language glove that…

Dr. Juan Gilbert created the Prime III software voting system as a model for how to make elections more secure — and more inclusive. Growing up in Hamilton, Ohio, Dr. Juan Gilbert’s path toward invention wasn’t laid out for him. “I didn’t have any role model or anything like that,” he says. What he did…

Dr. Juan Gilbert created the Prime III software voting system as a model for how to make elections more secure — and more inclusive. During this unprecedented election season, there has been a focus on safety and security for voters and voting systems — but equally paramount should be the issue of accessibility. That beliefMore

Dr. Arthur Molella Recognized for Outstanding Contributions to Technology Research and Scholarship Dr. Arthur Molella has been awarded the prestigious Leonardo da Vinci Medal by the Society for the History of Technology. Dr. Molella is the founding director of the Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation at the Smithsonian’sMore

U.S. Department of Education STEM Briefing Webinar will provide guidance on integrating innovation and entrepreneurship into curriculum By David Coronado One thing that 2020 has shown us is that our children face a future of new, more demanding and increasingly complex challenges. How do we prepare them not only for the workforce, but for a…

A Working Blueprint for Innovation and Entrepreneurship Programs in Higher Education Fostering brave spaces that welcome a diversity of perspectives, ideas, and lived experiences is essential in any field. In STEM innovation and entrepreneurship, it is vital. Increasingly, entrepreneurship centers and science and technology programs in higher education have recognized a need for more authentic…

How Two Young Entrepreneurs Are Bringing a Fresh Perspective to Farming If all of the world’s farms could be combined, they would create a landmass larger than the continent of South America. That’s according to the new documentary film, “Vertical: The Future of Farming,” which follows several urban and indoor farmers in their quests toMore

A “secret sauce” of minerals embedded in the mat keeps produce-spoiling bacteria at bay, tackling the issue of household food waste. “I’m totally a tree-hugger at heart.” That’s how inventor and entrepreneur Dagan Kay describes himself. His description hints at the entire ethos behind his Portland, Oregon-based company, Produce Mate. The former philosophy major developed the…

Massachusetts high school science teacher Doug Scott – a frequent collaborator with the Foundation and the Lemelson-MIT program on Invention Education – has been awarded the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST). Scott accepted the award with fellow teacher Jordan Estock recently at a virtual ceremony hosted by the National Science…

How One Inventor is Transforming Health Care in Rural India Through his startup company, Biosense, Abhishek Sen is helping remote communities in India get better testing for some of the country’s most pervasive diseases. How do you solve a chronic, widespread generational health problem in places where money and resources are scarce? That question led…

“Oregon National Guard” by The National Guard The month of September brought a swarm of wildfires causing catastrophic destruction to our beautiful state of Oregon – leveling homes, nearly wiping out whole communities and destroying forests and habitats throughout the state. Many of the communities most significantly impacted were already struggling with the health, economic…