Past Collegiate Inventors Competition Winners
Learn about the student inventors who have excelled in the Collegiate Inventors Competition®. You can search our past competition winners by name, year or university.
Optically Encoded Porous Silicon Particles
As a doctoral student in chemistry, Link began a research project that investigated tiny sensors known as smart dust. She performs chemistry on the surface of the microscopic sensors and can cause them to be a particular color. Then, the sensors can actually detect whatever substance Link has programmed them to detect, such as a toxin. As they find the toxin, the tiny sensors all align the same way, and collectively, the microscopic markers join together as a red spot to point out the toxic pollutant.
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Jamie Link
OSPRI
An inadequate supply of clean water accounts for 3.4 million deaths each year. Optimized Solar Purification with a Reusable Indicator, or OSPRI, was developed to address the need for low-cost clean water in the developing world. Used with solar disinfection techniques, OSPRI is a reusable, UV-radiation-measuring sensor, that changes color to notify a user the treated water is safe to drink. OSPRI could increase access to clean drinking water worldwide, drastically reducing waterborne illnesses.
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Sanjit Datta
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David Pfau
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Eric Salomon
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Charit Tippareddy
Ozone Generator for Reduced Auto Emissions
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Jason Annes
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Nathan Ballou
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Ryan Ritter
Paraplegic Ski Machine
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George A. Kembel
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John A. Kembel
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Terry K. Tullis
PE-IVT (Positively Engaged, Infinitely Variable Transmission Using Split Helical Gears)
As demand for electric vehicles rises, so does the need for manufacturers to identify a more suitable transmission. The Positively Engaged, Infinitely Variable Transmission (PE-IVT) represents a new class of transmission that combines the torque of gear-based transmissions with the efficiency of continuously variable transmissions. The PE-IVT operates at 88 to 98% efficiency across all gear ratios, and it could disrupt existing technologies and reduce energy losses across a range of applications and industries.
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