By Alexis Hopper, IEA Program Coordinator
To celebrate National Inventors Month, Alexis Hopper put together a blog post highlighting IEA Student Inventions through The Process of Inventing.
“An invention has to make sense in the world it finishes in, not in the world it started.” —Time O’Reilly
In 1998, the Academy of Applied Science, United Inventors Association of America, and Inventors’ Digest magazine came together to bring us National Inventors Month. “We want to recognize those talented, brave individuals who dare to be blatantly creative, and therefore different, and whose accomplishments affect every facet of our lives,” said the editor of Inventors’ Digest, Joanne Hayes-Rines.
Whether advancing the fields of science, technology, arts, or humanities, human ingenuity is fueled by the spark of genius, as well as these other key drivers. Check out examples of our own IEA Academy student inventors’ projects and how they each illustrate a different aspect of the inventing process.
- CURIOSITY
Students in Cells: Under the Microscope practice how to use a compound microscope properly to identify structures that relate to functions of a cell.
- INNOVATION
Shark Tank: Products and Pitches student Gabe shares his prototype for a customizable card game with a panel of “Sharks”.
- PURPOSE
Students Dante and Mateo put the finishing touches on their robotic arm in Advanced Arduino Projects.
- DESIGN
Student drawings from Math for Future Architects using Cartesian Plane and Plotting Coordinates.
- CREATION
Students in Creative Writing: The Next Chapter work on their final draft and book cover designs.
- EXPERIMENTATION
Kitchen Chemistry students Eli and George dig their hands into quasi-solid states of matter.
- DOCUMENTATION
Rube Goldberg students Amalia and William document their findings on how to optimize a pulley system.
- COLLABORATION
What’s Your Strategy: Board Game Design students share their final projects.
- VISION
Zoo Design student, Kai, with his model for a habitable enclosure for the Madagascar Hissing Cockroach.
Ways to Celebrate National Inventors Month
- Take a moment to learn more about the inventions that have improved your life. Do you wear glasses or contacts? Do you drink filtered water? Do ride a bicycle, skateboard or wear Heel Wheels? Find newfound appreciation for the inventions in your life by researching the who, what and when that made them a reality.
- Advocate for inventors by joining the community. Check out these sites from the makers of National Inventors Month:
- United Inventors Association of America
- Inventor’s Digest
- Academy of Applied Science
- Listen to your inner inventor! Don’t brush aside ideas that strike you at the moment. It’s inspiration calling.
IEA Summer Academy is still open for applicants. Click here to learn more about our summer sessions.