Devin White
It’s been a while.
With essays and projects in school, a bad soccer injury putting me on crutches, and the general rush of spring, I’ve been busy. I’m sure you have been too.
With that in mind, I was ecstatic when I noticed on May 1 that I had no tennis matches or soccer games around New England. I had a completely clean schedule to drag my dad along to take the hour drive up to the University of Connecticut for the great Connecticut Invention Convention.
Honora Kenney, CIC president, asked me to judge a regional youth convention in New Haven, Conn. I was excited to give back to the program, which started my whole innovation storyline.
The regional competition went fairly smooth and it was a great afternoon. It was my first judging opportunity and I was really glad it went well, with no dispute or conflict. I was nervous. And it was an honor to be asked to come back to the CIC and be a special award judge.
For those of you that don’t know, CIC is the big leagues. In its 27th year, CIC is a nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering youth innovation in Connecticut.
In addition, it is one of the premier youth innovation forums in the country. Held at the University of Connecticut at Gampel Pavilion (home of the Huskies, the 2010 Women’s Division 1 National Champions) an estimated 5,000 attended the convention. Among them, 675 youth inventors (K-8) participated. I don’t know what’s more impressive – the number of inventors or the number of spectators in attendance to view the best innovative minds in Connecticut.
Anyways, the CIC brings together some of the best ideas, the best minds, the best students in the state, along with hordes of newspapers, TV cameras, and reporters. Among my personal favorites were toddler shoe lace systems, a migraine prevention plan, a multipurpose tape measure, aqua markers that reduced markers drying out, and a “swimmer saver” that shot out a floating apparatus.
In addition I’d like to mention Rick Fasciano from Torrington Middle School in Torrington, Conn. Rick has been running a local invention convention for many years and every year he continues to bring some of the best minds and inventions with him to CIC. He truly understands the value of innovation and it is educators like him that are fostering the great minds, and more importantly the great people of tomorrow – in essence the next generation.
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The Connecticut Invention Convention is more than just a Saturday in May where the best inventions come under one roof. It’s an event that fosters creativity, development, innovation, and success. Regardless of if you won one of the 260 awards, every inventor who leaves Gampel Pavilion at the end of the day left as a better student, a better inventor, and with a better future.
The opportunities that are provided at the CIC are endless. At the least, you leave with the inspiration to make your next invention – maybe even the next iPod.
If you are fortunate enough to win an award, you can receive money to fund your next innovation or even the opportunity to work with a company on your invention. Award or not, every inventor has the opportunity to meet some of the biggest and best engineers, educators, and inventors in the state.
For more information just visit ctinventionconvention.org or contact me at [email protected] .
Let’s Show the World…Don’t Stop Thinking
