Eight High School Teams Named Lemelson-MIT InvenTeams® Kicking Off the 20th Anniversary of the Grants Initiative

Today the Lemelson-MIT Program announces the 2023-2024 InvenTeams, eight teams of high school students, teachers, and mentors from across the country who each will receive $7,500 in grant funding and other support to build a technological invention to solve a problem of their own choosing. The students’ inventions are inspired by real-world problems they identified in their local communities.

Meet the 2023–2024 InvenTeams^®

The InvenTeams were selected by a respected panel consisting of university professors, inventors, entrepreneurs, industry professionals, and college students. Some panel members were former InvenTeam members now working in industry or are in college. The InvenTeams’ are focusing on problems facing their local communities, with a goal that their inventions will have a positive impact on beneficiaries and, ultimately, improve the lives of others beyond their communities. This year’s teams are:

• e3 Civic High (San Diego, Calif.)
• Cold Spring Harbor Junior/Senior High School (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.)
• Calistoga Junior/Senior High School (Calistoga, Calif.)
• EMUiNVENT (Ypsilanti, Mich.)
• Incline High School (Incline Village, Nev.)
• Cincinnati Country Day School (Cincinnati, Ohio)
• Chattahoochee High School (Johns Creek, Ga.)
• Amherst Regional High School (Amherst, Mass.)

The 2023–2024 InvenTeams are comprised of students, teachers and community mentors who pursue year-long invention projects involving creative thinking, problem-solving, and hands-on learning in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The InvenTeams’ prototype inventions will be showcased at a technical review within their home communities in February 2024, and then again as a final prototype at EurekaFest^® — an invention celebration taking place June 10-12, 2024, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

“The InvenTeams are focusing on solving problems that impact their local communities," says Leigh Estabrooks, Lemelson-MIT’s Invention Education Officer. “Teams are focusing their technological solutions – their inventions – on inequities in health and wellbeing, environmental issues, and safety concerns. These high school students are not just problem-solvers of tomorrow, they are problem solvers today helping to make our world more equitable, healthier, and safer.”

Celebrating 20 Years of the High School InvenTeams Grant Initiative

The InvenTeams initiative, now in its 20^th year, has enabled 17 teams of high school students to earn U.S. patents for their projects. Intellectual property education is combined with our invention education offerings as part of the Lemelson-MIT Program’s deliberate efforts to remedy historic inequities among those who develop inventions, protect their intellectual property, and commercialize their creations. LMIT’s ongoing efforts empower students from all backgrounds, equipping them with invaluable problem-solving skills that will serve them well throughout their academic journeys, professional pursuits, and personal lives. Our work with 3,883 students across 296 different teams nationwide these past 20 years includes:

• Partnering with intellectual property law firms to provide pro bono legal support.
• Collaborating with industry-leading companies that provide technical guidance and mentoring.
• Providing professional development for teachers on invention education.
• Assisting teams with identifying resources within their communities’ innovation ecosystems to support ongoing invention efforts.
• Publishing case studies and research to inform the work of invention educators and policy makers and build support for engaging students in efforts to invent solutions to real-world problems.

ABOUT THE LEMELSON-MIT PROGRAM

The Lemelson-MIT Program (LMIT) is a national leader in efforts to prepare the next generation of inventors and entrepreneurs. Our work focuses on the expansion of opportunities for people to learn ways inventors find and solve problems that matter to improve lives. Our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion aims to remedy historic inequities among those who develop inventions, protect their intellectual property, and commercialize their creations.

Jerome H. Lemelson, one of U.S. history’s most prolific inventors, and his wife Dorothy founded the Lemelson-MIT Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1994. It is funded by The Lemelson Foundation and administered by the School of Engineering at MIT, an institution with a strong ongoing commitment to creating meaningful opportunities for K-14 STEM education. For more information, visit Lemelson.MIT.edu.

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