Invention Notebook

Latest

Inventing Our Future: A National Inventors’ Day Celebration

A message from Rob Schneider, Executive Director, The Lemelson Foundation

February 9, 2025

5 min read

Envisioning a Safer Eye Exam

This young inventor created a synthetic model eye to help medical students train for optical procedures.

January 31, 2025

4 min read

A Champion for Sustainability

Transforming Engineering Curricula to Protect Our Planet

December 18, 2024

7 min read

Making STEM Education More Inclusive for Emerging Entrepreneurs

Five attributes that innovation and entrepreneurship programs should cultivate

October 31, 2024

6 min read

Escaping the Ordinary in the Classroom

Grant Kightlinger and Molly Grace, co-creators of the “FairPlay Challenge.” This innovative education curriculum uses an escape room model to engage students in important life lessons. Many of us have had that experience in school of feeling trapped in a boring lesson about a topic that didn’t seem to have any relevance to our lives. But as you watchedMore

July 17, 2024

9 min read

Making Engineering Elementary

How a model for equity-oriented engineering curriculum is engaging students from all backgrounds and in the earliest grades Students engineering windmills that harness the wind’s energy. (Credit: Youth Engineering Solutions, Museum of Science, Boston) Engineers are crucial to building our future. And to harness the best solutions for tomorrow’s social and environmental challenges, we need aMore

June 25, 2024

11 min read

Transforming the Game with Invention

Shawn Springs, CEO of Windpact. This former athlete turned entrepreneur and inventor is creating new sports technology to improve player safety. Who can be an inventor? A dynamic new exhibit at the Smithsonian’s Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation is posing that question through a unique lens, andMore

June 3, 2024

9 min read

Recharging the Electric Vehicle Industry

Siblings Steven (left) and Zora Chung (right) co-founded technology company ReJoule. This sustainable startup is building a circular economy for EV batteries from the ground up How do you make a critically important sustainable industry even more sustainable? For electric vehicles, one of the challenges is the sustainable source itself — the lithium-ion battery. Although they areMore

April 26, 2024

11 min read

Paving the Way to Sustainability

Removing roadblocks for low-carbon building materials can spur innovation and lower greenhouse gas emissions

April 22, 2024

3 min read

Previous

  • Teaching Beyond Textbooks

    Teaching Beyond Textbooks

    Rethinking Education for a World Fueled by Creativity and Innovation

  • Achieving that Lightbulb Moment

    Achieving that Lightbulb Moment

    How two high school inventors created a flashlight to help light the way for their community’s first responders

  • Engineering for One Planet: A Paradigm Shift for Climate Action and a Sustainable Future
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    5
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    Engineering for One Planet: A Paradigm Shift for Climate Action and a Sustainable Future

    World Engineering Day prompts crucial questions: Can the very ingenuity that defines engineering — the force that builds our world’s cities and puts a world of knowledge in our hands — help pave the path towards a truly sustainable future? Can it become an instrument not just for technological progress, but also for the thriving of our planet and…

  • Embracing Black Ingenuity: Beyond Black History Month

    Embracing Black Ingenuity: Beyond Black History Month

    Each February brings me a deeper appreciation for Black History Month. Yet, alongside this admiration, I can’t help but grapple with mixed feelings. We dedicate a mere 28 days to honoring the remarkable achievements of Black individuals in American history. Despite the community events and workplace discussions, Black History Month often feels like a mere…

  • Sparking Imagination, Empowering Ingenuity

    Sparking Imagination, Empowering Ingenuity

    Why We Must Celebrate and Support the Inventive Spirit

  • The Transformative Power of Invention Education

    The Transformative Power of Invention Education

    This approach to STEM learning ignites creativity, instills lifelong skills, and fuels the innovation economy. How do we ensure that school is not a limiting factor for creativity and innovation, but instead instills an inventive mindset in our students? Our answer is Invention Education. This op-ed in Invention Notebook — authored by Elizabeth Stock and…

  • Mentorship in STEM and Invention Education

    Mentorship in STEM and Invention Education

    These ten educators are empowering teachers and the rising generation of inventors and innovators.

  • From Waste to Wattage

    From Waste to Wattage

    This student inventor uses an innovative renewable energy source to help monitor natural disasters.

  • New Year’s Resolutions for the Impact Incubation Industry

    New Year’s Resolutions for the Impact Incubation Industry

    What all accelerators and funders should know for being a successful social impact incubator