Arya Bairat of Milford Places at National Invention Convention in DC

May 25, 2016

Young CT Inventors Win Big At National Invention Convention in DC

Connecticut’s Young Inventors Bring Home 13 Awards from National Invention Convention and Entrepreneurship Expo

Winners include “Most Marketable Product” Award for Southington Teen

Connecticut’s delegation of 55 young inventors, chosen from thousands throughout the state’s Connecticut Invention Convention (CIC) programs, brought home 13 awards from the first National Invention Convention and Entrepreneurship Expo (NICEE), held in Washington, D.C ., on May 19-21 by The STEMIE Coalition, a Connecticut non-profit organization.

Lucca Riccio, an 8th grader from Southington, Connecticut, was named national champion with his “Message Mask” product – a Bluetooth-enabled, noise-canceling CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) medical device that helps patients communicate clearly with loved ones while receiving oxygen through the mask. Lucca won the Most Marketable Product award, beating out more than 260 invited competitors from 15 states across the United States. He has filed for patent protection with the US Patent and Trademark Office and is working on commercializing his product this year.

A total of 43 winners took home honors from the inaugural NICEE 2016 event, which was held at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Connecticut and Ohio took home the most awards with 13 each, followed by Idaho with seven. Eight states had students place at NICEE 2016. “We congratulate all of the inventors for such an incredible showing at the first ever Nationals,” commented Helen Charov, Executive Director of the Connecticut Invention Convention. The list of national winners is here: http://www.stemie.org/breaking-news-nicee-2016-winners/.

“The level of invention was outstanding and worthy of a national competition,” said NICEE 2016 organizer Danny Briere, CEO of The STEMIE Coalition, the event host. “When you have students as young as second graders being considered for the Best-in-Show award, and third graders winning for Best Prototype, you know it is an incredibly innovative field of inventors.”

Riccio’s Message Mask solves a key problem for patients using oxygen masks: having a hard time being understood due to the noise of the oxygen flow and mouth-covering plastic cover. Riccio thought of the idea when in the Emergency Room with his grandmother, as his uncle rushed cross-country to her bedside. “He wanted to talk to her, he was scared he would not make it there in time. But the phone could not pick up her voice over the noise of the machinery in the room, and I could not understand her through the muffled mask to tell him what she was saying,” said Riccio. “My Bluetooth-enabled noise canceling microphone would have picked up her voice and relayed it to the smartphone as well as to a local speaker, so everyone could hear.”

“All of the products that we evaluated for the Most Marketable Product award were so incredible, and the inventors so poised and prepared,” said Christine Heckart, chief marketing officer for Brocade Communications Systems, Inc., the firm which sponsored this Best-in-Show honor. “What made the Message Mask stand out was its ability to impact a large a group of people worldwide. This innovation could be used in homes and hospitals worldwide, helping patients, staff and families communicate with loved ones at a critical time in their lives.”

Other Connecticut Invention Convention winners included the following:

Arya Bairat of Milford (Grade 8) took the “Most Patentable” award and placed 3rd in his grade category with “CO2E,” an invention to convert pollutant CO2 emissions into energy.
Sawyer Baran of Lebanon (Grade 8) won the Education Award for his I-Composer invention to aid the vision-impaired use of an I-Pad.
Abkinav Kumar of Rye, New York (Grade 8), who participated in the CIC program this year, took 1st place in his grade division for his “Magneto Charger,” a more efficient way to increase the distance of wireless transfer of electricity using simple non-radiative methods.
Natalie Lindstrom of Oakville (Grade 5) won the Best Logbook award for “Tape Tags,” which help you find the end of a roll of tape.
Gabriella Margolies of Trumbull (Grade 5) won the Home Technology Award for her “Insta Rack” which is an easier way to store bicycles.
Eli Mathieu of Colchester (Grade 9) won 1st place in the 9-12th grade category and the Microsoft Accessibility Award with his “Listen4Me” invention for the hearing impaired.
Ashton Rader of Enfield (Grade 5) brought home the Best Invention for Pets and Animal Care, with his Basset Bowl made to keep his dog ears dry.
Robert Testa of Wolcott (Grade 4), won the Consumer Goods and Fashion Award, with his “Mr. Happy Tie,” a tie with a hidden stethoscope to dispel children’s fear of doctors.
Maggie Young of Plainfield (Grade 3), participating virtually through video submissions allowed to K-3 graders, won the Best Prototype award for her “Lazy Bones,” a base which holds bones for her dog to more easily eat.
Hannah Zink of Farmington (Grade 8) won the Agricultural Award with her “Test 36 Gum,” a dissolve-in-your-mouth gum.
A full list of the 55 Connecticut 4-8th graders who participated in person at NICEE is here: http://www.ctinventionconvention.org/images/upload/2016Finals/corrected%20nic%20finalists%20grades%204%20-%208.pdf
A full list of the 18 Connecticut K-3rd graders who participated online through virtual video presentations is here: http://www.ctinventionconvention.org/images/upload/2016Finals/nic%20finalists%20grades%20k-3.pdf

Nationally, all competitors attending NICEE were winners of partner invention and entrepreneurship education competitions, similar to the CIC, and attendance was by invitation only. NICEE will return to the USPTO headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia, June 1-3, 2017.

Over the last 33 years, more than 300,000 Connecticut school children have participated in the CIC curriculum. The program has created several generations of problem solvers who recall their experiences with inventing as influential in their career choices. Now in their mid-careers, some CIC alumni have become CEOs of their own companies, scientists and engineers, teachers of the CIC program, and even state legislators.

The CIC has been growing by 35 percent every year into school districts in more than half the state’s cities and towns, and was presented the STEM Achievement Award for 2016 by the Connecticut Science Center and the Sigmund Abeles STEM Advocate award by the CSTA (CT Science Teachers Association). For a second year in a row, CIC’s “Next Step Inventors” were invited to the White House Science Fair to display and describe their inventions.

CIC has been raising travel funds for its Connecticut inventors to travel to the NICEE through donations at https://www.GoFundMe.com/CIC2016 and through a MobileCause campaign (text the keyword INVENT to 41444 for online donations).

For more information about the Connecticut Invention Convention and how to make it a part of your school’s STEM learning, visit www.CTInventionConvention.org.