Overview
Today we announce the 2020 Lemelson-MIT Student Prize winners who are recognized for their technology-based inventions as graduate students or undergraduate teams in one of four categories: “Use it!,” “Move it!,” “Eat it!,” and “Cure it!” The national effort is sponsored by The Lemelson Foundation. “We congratulate this year’s winners for their outstanding work tackling global problems in order to improve lives around the world,” said Carol Dahl, executive director at The Lemelson Foundation. “These students are an inspiring example of how young minds across the country can solve problems through invention.”
Prize winners and the young inventors we have worked with from high schools across the U.S. cite the importance of having opportunities for learning the unique ways inventors find and solve problems. These opportunities (referred to as ‘invention education’) develop human skills needed for the workforce and prepare young people to be creative problem solvers in their communities and beyond. We invite you to explore the examples of young inventors on this site and to get started on the pathway to inventing by picking an activity in whatever category fits your personal interest and passion.
Have fun inventing!
Don’t forget that you can share your invention ideas using our forums or on social media using #MITFullSTEAM (with parent permission).
Make sure you scroll to the bottom for additional activities.
| 2020 “Use it!” Lemelson-MIT Student Prize Undergraduate Team Winner | |
Neptune Plastics: Marx Acosta-Rubio, Grant Christensen, and Hal Jones Brigham Young University A biodegradeable and compostable plastic bag that is safe for wildlife to eat! | |
| 2020 “Use it!” Lemelson-MIT Student Prize Graduate Winner | |
Daniela Blanco New York University A greener chemical reactor, which is a machine that transforms a raw material into a useable product. | |
| 2020 “Move it!” Lemelson-MIT Student Prize Undergraduate Team Winner | |
MPG: Celestine Ananda, Bennett Bartel, Nicholas Bartel, Cassandra Bossong, and Taylor Peterson Carthage College The modal propellant gauging, or MPG technology, is a way of gauging the amount of fuel left in a tank (like in spacecraft or airplanes). | |
| 2020 “Eat it!” Lemelson-MIT Student Prize Graduate Winner | |
Tzu-Chieh (Zijay) Tang Massachusetts Institute of Technology Syn-SCOBY, a special kind of tea mushroom that you can grow at home and use to create a filter to detect and remove pollutants in water. | |
| 2020 “Cure it!” Lemelson-MIT Student Prize Undergraduate Team Winner | |
Augeo: Siddharth Iyer, Jasmine Hu, Mathias Insley, Diane Lee, and Eric Lin Johns Hopkins University A new material that can quickly expand to many times its size, resulting in an inexpensive and simple way to permanently stop a patient from bleeding internally. | |
| 2020 “Cure it!” Lemelson-MIT Student Prize Graduate Winner | |
Shriya Srinivasan Massachusetts Institute of Technology The cutaneous mechanoneural interface (CMI), a new type of surgical process for amputations that would allow a person to sense what their prosthesis feels. | |
Share
Don’t forget that you can share your invention ideas using our forums or on social media using #MITFullSTEAM (with parent permission).
Forums
Grades K – 5
We recommend you read the letter to Caring Adults of K-5 Children first. The letter has helpful hints on how to have fun with children while learning about inventors and inventing! You don’t need to work through the categories in order, and every category includes inventors’ stories, videos, and activities to complete while thinking like inventors. For inspiration, check out the videos of young inventors and their inventions below. Good luck!
| Meet Team Tactile – All Inventors! | |
| Meet Team Tactile. They are inventors. They created Tactile. Tactile is a device. It changes text to the braille alphabet. | |
| Create Your Name with the Braille Code | |
Use small objects found at home to create your name using the braille alphabet. | |
Grades 6 – 12
We recommend you read the Letter to Grades 6-12 Students first. You don’t need to work through the activities in order. Every category includes (1) explorations of inventions created by Lemelson-MIT Student Prize winners and InvenTeam grant recipients, (2) a hands-on activity, and (3) brainstorming of your own invention projects. Remember, inventing is just plain fun! We hope you’ll have lots of fun this week!
| Explore “Use it!” Inventions | |
| Explore “Use it!” inventions created by students in high schools, colleges, and graduate schools and think about what kind of users may benefit from their inventions. Think about what you may want to invent to improve people’s lives. | |
| Heavy Lifting Inventions | |
| You’ve probably seen cranes used to lift heavy materials. What if we could use cranes in our daily life? In this activity, you will get to develop the hands-on skill of using common materials to create a crane. | |
| Think Like an Inventor | |
| Now that you have learned about inventors and the invention process, how about doing some problem solving? This activity introduces you to a technique called SCAMPER. You can use the SCAMPER guide to brainstorm your ideas. | |
Share
Don’t forget that you can share your invention ideas using our forums or on social media using #MITFullSTEAM (with parent permission).
Forums
Grades K – 5
We recommend you read the letter to Caring Adults of K-5 Children first. The letter has helpful hints on how to have fun with children while learning about inventors and inventing! You don’t need to work through the categories in order, and every category includes inventors’ stories, videos, and activities to complete while thinking like inventors. For inspiration, check out the videos of young inventors and their inventions below. Good luck!
| Meet Nate – An Inventor! | |
| Nate was curious. He is also an inventor. He and some friends in college invented the ATLAS powered rope ascender. Inventors often use their imaginations and repurpose things — use them in different ways and for a new purpose. | |
Grades 6 – 12
We recommend you read the Letter to Grades 6-12 Students first. You don’t need to work through the activities in order. Every category includes (1) explorations of inventions created by Lemelson-MIT Student Prize winners and InvenTeam grant recipients, (2) a hands-on activity, and (3) brainstorming of your own invention projects. Remember, inventing is just plain fun! We hope you’ll have lots of fun this week!
| Explore “Move it!” Inventions | |
| In this activity, you will explore a few “Move it!” inventions, technology-based inventions that involve transportation or mobility, and see how these inventions help improve people’s mobility. | |
| Sneaker Challenge | |
| Imagine you were asked to design and create an earth-friendly sneaker that not only is comfortable for your feet but also completely recyclable. What would you design? | |
| Think Like an Inventor | |
| Now that you have learned about inventors and the invention process, how about doing some problem solving? This activity introduces you to a technique called SCAMPER. You can use the SCAMPER guide to brainstorm your ideas. | |
Share
Don’t forget that you can share your invention ideas using our forums or on social media using #MITFullSTEAM (with parent permission).
Forums
Grades K – 5
We recommend you read the letter to Caring Adults of K-5 Children first. The letter has helpful hints on how to have fun with children while learning about inventors and inventing! You don’t need to work through the categories in order, and every category includes inventors’ stories, videos, and activities to complete while thinking like inventors. For inspiration, check out the videos of young inventors and their inventions below. Good luck!
| Meet Heather – An Inventor! | |
| Heather is a gardener and an inventor. She is a very special gardener. She creates new ways for plants to grow in outer space. | |
| Keep a Seed Journal | |
| In this activity, you will grow seeds in a jar and observe them as they sprout and grow. Use your seed journal to record data on your plant’s growth, just like scientists do. | |
Grades 6 – 12
We recommend you read the Letter to Grades 6-12 Students first. You don’t need to work through the activities in order. Every category includes (1) explorations of inventions created by Lemelson-MIT Student Prize winners and InvenTeam grant recipients, (2) a hands-on activity, and (3) brainstorming of your own invention projects. Remember, inventing is just plain fun! We hope you’ll have lots of fun this week!
| Explore “Eat it!” Inventions | |
| In this activity, you will explore a few “Eat it!” inventions that utilize technology to help with agriculture, ranging from restaurant to hydroponics to dairy farming. | |
| Inventing a Better Lunchbox | |
| In this activity, you will create a lunch box that can keep food cool for a longer time using common materials found at home to make an insulated lunch box. | |
| Think Like an Inventor | |
| Now that you have learned about inventors and the invention process, how about doing some problem solving? This activity introduces you to a technique called SCAMPER. You can use the SCAMPER guide to brainstorm your ideas. | |
Share
Don’t forget that you can share your invention ideas using our forums or on social media using #MITFullSTEAM (with parent permission).
Forums
Grades K – 5
We recommend you read the letter to Caring Adults of K-5 Children first. The letter has helpful hints on how to have fun with children while learning about inventors and inventing! You don’t need to work through the categories in order, and every category includes inventors’ stories, videos, and activities to complete while thinking like inventors. For inspiration, check out the videos of young inventors and their inventions below. Good luck!
| Meet Katy – An Inventor! | |
| Katy is a mechanical engineer and also an inventor. She designs and builds prosthetics, which are inventions that help people who are missing their feet or legs walk. | |
Grades 6 – 12
We recommend you read the Letter to Grades 6-12 Students first. You don’t need to work through the activities in order. Every category includes (1) explorations of inventions created by Lemelson-MIT Student Prize winners and InvenTeam grant recipients, (2) a hands-on activity, and (3) brainstorming of your own invention projects. Remember, inventing is just plain fun! We hope you’ll have lots of fun this week!
| Explore “Cure it!” Inventions | |
| In this activity, you will learn about some examples of the “Cure it!” inventions that develop and utilize innovative technology to help people. | |
| Designing a Four-String Musical Instrument | |
| In this activity, you will work on a “Cure it!” invention project by creating your own musical instruments using common materials found at home. Music can certainly help cure us. | |
| Think Like an Inventor | |
| Now that you have learned about inventors and the invention process, how about doing some problem solving? This activity introduces you to a technique called SCAMPER. You can use the SCAMPER guide to brainstorm your ideas. | |