The Daily Pennsylvanian is a student-run nonprofit.

Please support us by disabling your ad blocker on our site.

[Komal Soin/The Daily Pennsylvanian] Professional inventor Marvin Weinberger leads a discussion on the process of inventing at the Weiss Tech House yesterday. The event was hosted to kick off the technology hub's student invention contest PennVention, mo

The Weiss Tech House kicked off its first annual PennVention competition last night with a meeting featuring Marvin Weinberger, a professional inventor and entrepreneur whose creations have received national attention and been featured in The New York Times, Popular Science and the Chicago Tribune, as well as on CBS's The Early Show.

PennVention is modeled after the Wharton Business Plan Competition, which challenges students to create effective new business organizations. Instead of developing businesses, competitors in PennVention must invent a new concept that can be patented.

Weinberger sought to show students how easy it is to invent and develop a new product idea. He focused on how creative thinking can transform everyday consumer products into profitable innovations.

Weiss Tech House leaders said they hope that Weinberger's ideas will provide students with fresh approaches and inspiration for the PennVention competition.

The grand prize winner will be awarded $5,000, while the runner-up will receive $2,500, and $1,000 will go to the third-place recipient.

In addition, the Leonardo DaVinci Prize will be awarded to the competitor whose invention is deemed to have the most potential for commercial success. The DaVinci Prize winner will receive an additional $5,000, as well as an offer of representation from Competitive Technologies, Inc., worth over $50,000 plus additional royalties.

The contest is open to all Penn students, both graduate and undergraduate, and will be judged by a group of industry leaders.

"We've already had a lot of applications come in," said Weiss Tech House Marketing Director Mudit Jaju, an Engineering junior.

Weinberger himself concentrated on improving "products that annoy you," as he put it, such as car windshield snow scrapers, barbecue grill brushes, snow shovels and spray bottles.

In addition to showing how consumer products can be improved, Weinberger outlined the creative mindset that an inventor must have.

He cited Leonardo da Vinci as the ideal example of a creative, inquisitive and analytical mind.

"I liked that he gave a brief overview of the thinking process," Engineering sophomore Max Adler said. However, he said he wished Weinberger had gone into greater detail in this area.

Comments powered by Disqus

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.