Campers Find Encouragement in Relatable Role Models
When children are introduced to innovators they find both inspiring and relatable, they begin to recognize what they too can achieve. Your gift to the National Inventors Hall of Fame® (NIHF) Annual Fund makes a direct impact by helping children identify exceptional role models in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields.
The Annual Fund fuels our education team’s curriculum development process, which is done in collaboration with NIHF Inductees and infuses lessons from real-world innovators who represent diverse backgrounds, professions and experiences.
Children who attend Camp Invention® engage in hands-on challenges that incorporate insights from Hall of Famers and Collegiate Inventors Competition® (CIC) Finalists, and they use Inventor Logs that encourage them to keep learning more about these role models even after their camp experience ends.
Some Camp Invention participants, such as Nicole Black, have even gone on to become STEM role models themselves.
Inspiring Campers to Pursue a Future in STEM
Engineer and inventor Nicole Black credits her participation in Camp Invention as one of the reasons she decided to follow a career path in STEM.
When Black attended camp in elementary school, she became an innovative problem solver through the process of designing, building, testing and modifying her own inventions, including a device to contain and safely transport bugs. In an interview with NIHF, Black said, “I was a little kid when I did this — about 7 — and I was thinking, ‘What problems do I want to solve?’”
Following her impactful experience as a camper, Black chose to stay with Camp Invention by becoming a Leadership Intern (LI). As an LI, Black said she was able to “inspire children of all different backgrounds, races and genders to know that you can be an inventor too.” Through this volunteer opportunity, she helped lead campers through their own early innovation journey and encouraged them to embrace their creativity and drive to innovate.
Black later attended Harvard University to study engineering with hopes of using STEM to continue solving problems. While there, Black and co-inventor Michael J. Kreder created PionEar, a device designed to combat issues associated with chronic ear infections using novel 3D-printed designs and new materials.
In 2018, the co-inventors competed in CIC, which invites the top student inventors from across the country to take their inventions to the next level by presenting their work to an impressive panel of Judges made up of NIHF Inductees and United States Patent and Trademark Office officials. Black and Kreder presented the PionEar and were selected as the Graduate Winners.
As Black continues to innovate and pursue her STEM dreams, she also encourages children to do the same. In a letter she wrote to young innovators attending Camp Invention, she highlights the impact of her own experiences with both camp and CIC, and she tells campers they too can become inventors. “Do you ever feel frustrated, wishing that something existed — or worked better — to solve a problem?” Black wrote. “If yes, you are ready to be an inventor!”
Fund the Future of STEM Innovation
Nicole Black’s continuing story of STEM success is just one example of the lasting impact your Annual Fund gift can have on children who attend Camp Invention. NIHF relies on donors like you to recognize the potential of every child and choose to fund opportunities for them to engage in innovative programs, bring their ideas to life and find themselves reflected in inspiring STEM role models.
Use the link below and select “Area of Greatest Need/Annual Fund” as the program you would like to support to reach children across the country.
When you give today, you can change tomorrow.