Invention Notebook

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  • The Food Allergy Detective

    The Food Allergy Detective

    This young inventor created an AI-enabled, electronic nose to sniff out allergens lurking in your food.

  • Inventions That Matter

    Inventions That Matter

    Or “The Case Against Nonsense” For more than 20 years The Lemelson Foundation has been committed to the power of invention to improve lives. While inventions come in many forms, the Foundation’s work is focused on those that help solve the world’s most complex and systemic problems with true and lasting impact. We call this 

  • Immigrant Entrepreneurs Shape America’s Inventive and Economic Future

    Immigrant Entrepreneurs Shape America’s Inventive and Economic Future

    On August 21 The Lemelson Foundation joined thousands of organizations in recognizing World Entrepreneurs’ Day, an event designed to raise awareness of the importance of entrepreneurship, innovation and leadership in our lives. And from November 13–19, we will join 20,000 groups across 170 nations celebrating Global Entrepreneurship Week. But this year’s celebrationsMore

  • Inspiring Students to Invent Can Transform Lives

    Inspiring Students to Invent Can Transform Lives

    A Teacher Motivates Her Student to become a Science Educator When teachers present their students with real-world challenges to solve, they show them that they have the power to improve lives in their community and beyond. For National Teacher Appreciation Week, we’re celebrating teachers who are inspiring their students through invention education. Clara Mabour was…

  • Resource Constraints Demand Smarter Approaches to Invention

    Resource Constraints Demand Smarter Approaches to Invention

    The best inventions will be those that deliver the most value while consuming the fewest resources. April 22 saw hundreds of thousands assemble in Washington, DC and dozens of other cities nationwide to celebrate Earth Day with a first-ever March for Science. One week later, Americans again took to the streets to mark President Trump’s 100thMore

  • A Conversation With MIT Media Lab’s Ramesh Raskar

    A Conversation With MIT Media Lab’s Ramesh Raskar

    The professor discusses his early influences, approach to technology, and solving the right problem at the right time. In September 2016, Dr. Ramesh Raskar, an associate professor at the MIT Media Lab and holder of more than 75 patents, was awarded the $500,000 Lemelson-MIT Prize for his work in developing radical imaging solutions. The WallMore

  • Inventing for One Planet

    Inventing for One Planet

    Too often the tenets of environmental responsibility are absent from the invention process itself. As we commemorate Earth Day each year, we become more cognizant that the Earth itself is a constrained resource. Sustainability is one of the key issues of our time, but when it comes to inventing new products, we often don’t act…

  • Students should be forging paths, not following them

    Students should be forging paths, not following them

    Before winter break, I had the privilege to sit in on a new class at that was launched by TIE Oregon as part of the TIE Young Entrepreneurs program. The course teaches the principles of invention and entrepreneurship by guiding the students through real-world problem identification, brainstorming and prototyping solutions, and planning businessesMore