Celebrating All We’ve Accomplished Together in 2022

With a new year on the horizon, everyone here at the National Inventors Hall of Fame^® (NIHF) is reflecting on all we’ve accomplished with the support of generous and dedicated partners, sponsors, donors and families in 2022.

Honoring World-Changing Hall of Famers

In May, NIHF welcomed 27 new, visionary Inductees. After the COVID-19 pandemic prevented us from holding our Induction events for two years, we were thrilled to once again hold exciting, in-person events to celebrate NIHF’s class of 2022!

With the Illumination Ceremony held at the NIHF Museum and the Induction Ceremony held at The Anthem in Washington, D.C., we applauded our most diverse Inductee class yet and saw the NIHF family grow to include a total of 608 Hall of Famers.

“I hope that my induction serves to inspire others.” — Marian Croak, 2022 NIHF Inductee, inventor of VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) technology

To help bring our Inductees’ stories to life, we also developed new NIHF Museum exhibits. These include our 2022 Class of Inductees exhibit, Champions of Innovation, 100 Years of Hard Hat Protection and Women in Innovation, sponsored by Qualcomm, as well as Black History Month and Women’s History Month exhibits that were displayed just outside the museum in the atrium of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

Rewarding Emerging Inventors

Our Induction was not the only occasion to return to an in-person format in 2022. This past October, 25 innovators from across the country were invited to the United States Patent and Trademark Office to take part in this year’s Collegiate Inventors Competition^®!

Representing 10 of the nation’s top universities, five Graduate and five Undergraduate teams presented their cutting-edge inventions to a panel of Judges that included 12 NIHF Inductees, as well as USPTO patent examiners.

Exceptional teams took home cash prizes, including $10,000 each for our Graduate and Undergraduate Winners, $5,000 for each Runner-Up and $2,000 for the winner of the Arrow Electronics People’s Choice Award.

“My motivations for entering were to receive feedback that is invaluable to making improvements. This feedback not only allows us to tailor [our invention] to further meet needs, but it also allows us to gauge our progress and be proud of how far we have come, and to look forward to where we are going!” — Ally Reichart, 2022 CIC Undergraduate Winner, Team CatheSure

Providing Impactful Invention Education

Together with our valued supporters, we inspired thousands of America’s youngest innovators in 2022. The NIHF education team developed new hands-on curricula designed to tap into children’s natural creativity and guide them to build an innovative mindset, developing skills that will benefit them for a lifetime. Thanks to our incredible district partners, NIHF programs reached children in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico.

We partnered with more than 2,400 schools and districts and provided 21,420 hours of coaching and training to Program Team Members to support Camp Invention^®, our summer camp for grades K-6; Club Invention^®, our afterschool program for grades 1-6; and Invention Project^®, our new PreK-8 program offering flexible, year-round invention education.

To deliver all the materials and resources needed for each NIHF program, our warehouse team carefully custom-packed and directly shipped our products, with 100% of our shipments arriving on time.

This year, Camp Invention empowered more than 260,000 children, 25,000 of whom received scholarships made possible by our sponsors and donors. Additionally, 145,000 children accessed innovative learning opportunities through institutional partnerships.

“To witness children, many of whom do not have access to many resources, find success and have fun at Camp Invention — this was incredibly rewarding!” — Loyal A., educator, Urbana, IL

As families across the country registered their children for NIHF education programs, our customer relations team provided world-class service to help meet their needs and exceed their expectations.

“My daughter absolutely loved Camp Invention, and I loved that I had complete confidence that she would enjoy it and that it was going to be a great opportunity for her learning. It really opened up a new world of learning for her.” — Meghan F., Camp Invention parent, Converse, TX

“Camp Invention provided my son the opportunity to be in an environment with other people with similar interests and a place to actually engage in inventing. The camp increased his confidence in the possibility of inventing something that will positively support his community and potentially the world.” — Michelle S., Camp Invention parent, Waldorf, MD

Thank You to Our Partners

We at NIHF would like to extend our sincere thanks to each partner, sponsor, donor and family who helped make 2022 a success. With your continued commitment to fueling innovation, there is no limit to what we can accomplish together in 2023, when we will celebrate NIHF’s 50th anniversary!

To learn more about NIHF and our mission to recognize inventors, promote creativity, and advance the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship, please visit our website.