By Randy Trammell

Eight winning teams of student inventors from Georgia Tech’s K-12 InVenture Prize State Finals have been invited to represent Georgia at the RTX Invention Convention U.S. Nationals, June 3-5, in Dearborn, Michigan.

Invention Convention U.S. Nationals is a unique multi-day experience for students to present their inventions to educational and industry expert judges as well as other student inventors across the country. Hosted at The Henry Ford, Invention Convention U.S. Nationals invites student inventors to compete at the national level. An affiliate of Invention Convention Worldwide, K-12 InVenture Prize reserves a number of spots to invite select student teams from State Finals to represent Georgia at the U.S. Nationals competition. Qualifying inventions are eligible for industry awards, patent application awards, cash prizes, and scholarships.

“It is so very rewarding to see our amazing student inventors/entrepreneurs and their STEM teachers competing on the national stage,” said Danyelle Larkin, director of the K-12 InVenture Prize program. “Our students continue to refine their inventions and presentations at Nationals, where they also get to interact with fellow inventors from across the country. And we’ve seen some of our students go on to apply for patents and develop their ideas into actual working businesses, so this is a huge opportunity for our students to continue to grow.”

The teams representing Georgia for this year’s competition are:

• The Palate Pal, Smyrna Elementary School: An orthodontic pacifier designed to prevent palate issues in children with prolonged pacifier use that develops later in life, which requires extensive orthodontic work.
• Plan Pal, Atlanta International School: An AI-powered study app.
• Anxo Gum, McIntosh High School: A chewing gum that reduces anxiety.
• Sip Sense, Mashburn Elementary School: A water bottle with a sensor that is connected to an app to remind individuals to meet their water intake.
• Climate Pack, Bainbridge Middle School: A heat-regulating backpack for extreme weather.
• The Octopus, North Hall High School: An at-home water safety testing device.
• CPR (Chicken Poop Remover), Sunset Elementary School: Simplifies the process of cleaning dirty chicken coops.
• Ampipe, Independent Student, A tiny turbine system installed in downspouts that converts the energy of falling rain into electricity.

The K-12 InVenture Prize, based in the College of Lifetime Learning's Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics, and Computing (CEISMC), challenges kindergarten through high school students to identify real-world problems and design novel solutions through analysis, creativity, and the engineering design process.

For more information on the K-12 InVenture Prize curriculum and competition, please visit https://k12inventure.gatech.edu.