On March 12, Georgia Tech’s Exhibition Hall will transform into a hub of K-12 student invention and entrepreneurship with hundreds of young inventors from across the state presenting their designs for judging and a slot at RTX Invention Convention U.S. Nationals in June. The 11th annual Georgia Tech K-12 InVenture Prize State Finals competition will be held from11:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. 

The press is welcome to attend and interview students, teachers, and judges starting at 2:30 p.m. An awards ceremony will take place at 5 p.m. where student inventors will be singled out for honors in various categories. 

Some of the student inventions in this year’s competition include: 

• The Corder, a guitar-like instrument that makes playing easy;
• The Migraine Exterminator, which works to significantly reduce migraine headaches;
• FieldMate, an app that can help farmers potentially double crop production;  
• TremorTech, which uses a proprietary shock absorber system to reduce the debilitating effects of Parkinson's Disease tremors;
• and a VR-powered car driving simulator for new drivers.

This year’s K-12 InVenture Prize State Finals will also feature a lively, fun panel discussion with student inventors led by Georgia Public Broadcasting’s award-winning producer Ashley Mengwasser, host of the online video series “Tiny Mic: Big Designs,” which profiles student inventors, their inventions and their inspirations. The event is a great opportunity to capture photos and video of students presenting their inventions and explaining their ideas to a panel of judges.

“It is always amazing to see all of the students and their inventions at State Finals,” said Danyelle Larkin, director of K-12 InVenture Prize, which is housed in Tech's Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics, and Computing (CEISMC). “They bring so many cool ideas and so many cool inventions. Each student project starts with a question: How can I make the world a better place? Their designs are the answer to that question. We see our students working on projects in areas like clean water, clean air, safety issues, health and medical devices, games, musical instruments, pet care ... the list goes on and on. And we see lots of our students using robotics and programming and designing apps. It’s really amazing to see their creativity on display. This is truly such a great celebration with our students, their teachers, families and friends.”

For more info, please contact Randy Trammell at rtrammell8@gatech.edu.  

—Randy Trammell, CEISMC Communications