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.
Dome Shaped Micromechanical Oscillator for Telecommunications
The ever-increasing drive to make electronic circuits smaller and smaller is increasingly frustrated by certain types of components that refuse to shrink. These students found a solution by building a novel type of micromechanical oscillator: one shaped like a dome. Their oscillator resonates like a bell in response to light or heat. The dome is tiny and can be built on a chip. That makes it perfect for a wide range of electronic applications, especially in the field of telecommunications. Microscopic domes could replace many of the largest, most expensive parts contained in cells phones, among other devices.
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Keith Aubin
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Robert Reichenbach
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Maxim Zalalutdinov
Dyad Syringe
Administering intravenous (IV) medications is a common practice in hospitals and emergency rooms around the world. However, when multiple medicines need to be applied through an IV, sanitation and replacement of the syringe is required. The Dyad Syringe streamlines this process by providing two chambers: an empty one for the medication and a bottom chamber containing a saline solution. A punching device is used to puncture the latter chamber, thereby sanitizing the catheter. This innovative design is the first syringe that allows the administration of medication and sanitation of the device in a single action — both saving time and decreasing the chance for infection.
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Bryson Pritchard
Dynamic Brace
Clubfoot, a birth defect causing the foot or feet to turn inward and downward, affects one in 1,000 U.S. infants annually and can hinder the ability to walk. With a typical “boots and bar” brace system, which rigidly connects and demobilizes the feet, one in four children experience relapse, often due to noncompliance. The soft, flexible, lightweight Dynamic Brace increases compliance, eliminating the need for a connecting bar and supporting mobility and comfort by allowing both feet to move independently.
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Jenlu Pagnotta
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Delphine Tan
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Hannah Yamagata
EarFlow
Otitis media, or middle ear infection, is a painful condition triggering excess fluid production in the middle ear, affecting the eardrum by altering its vibration and hearing levels. It is especially common in young children. EarFlow is a drug delivery device that is placed on a patient’s eardrum to deliver dexamethasone, a steroid, and ciprofloxacin, an antibiotic, to the middle ear to treat otitis media. Placing the device takes less than five minutes in a doctor’s office and does not require general anesthesia. With low cytotoxicity and low risk of hearing damage, EarFlow offers a vast improvement from standard treatments for recurrent infections.
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Eva Cai
Early Cancer Diagnosis by the Detection of Circulating Tumor Cells using Drop-based Microfluidics
Early and accurate diagnoses of cancer can positively affect survival rates. The best method now is 1) knowing that a tumor exists and 2) having it biopsied, which is invasive and often dangerous. Neil Davey has plans to change that. He has devised a technology that can detect and isolate tumor cells that circulate in the body using a simple blood sample.
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