Student inventor needs backing for new security system

Jae Kim has an idea -- with a $100,000 hitch. The Wharton senior's idea would improve police response time, lessen crime, and improve campus safety. But Kim, a University Scholar, can't get the $100,000 he needs to turn his idea into reality. For several months, Kim has been working on a security device which, when pressed, would send a signal to a computer system in a police department's headquarters, alerting police of an emergency. The device, which would be no larger than the size of a walkman, could be carried by students around campus. Kim -- who has more than 30 inventions to his credit, including a patent for a cost efficient, capless pen -- said last week that, though University administrators say they are excited about his idea, they just don't have the cash he needs. But one University administrator said yesterday the Faculty Senate could approve the funds for such an endeavor. Jeffery Solash, assistant director for corporate development, said yesterday that while Kim's "idea holds some potential and I'm looking forward to see the idea flushed out . . . it would take an act of the Faculty Senate to allow the University to invest in its own technology, as I understand the situation." "There certainly is a need for systems like this," Solash said. "The proof will be in how Jae flushes it out." But the undaunted entrepreneur said he feels he just hasn't met the "right person . . . yet." Kim, who has been inventing everything from toys to high-tech projects since high school, insists that the University has the money he needs, but that he just hasn't met that one person who can pull the right strings for him. University Scholars Coordinator Susan Duggan said that the idea "sounded great," but that she "did not go into depth about it because it seemed too complicated." Duggan said when Kim came to her in October, she suggested he talk with an electrical engineering professor. "I haven't heard what came of it," she said. Kim said his idea would reduce pressure on police by making it easy to respond to incidents. "When [students] encounter any problem they would press the button," Kim added, claiming that the security system would reduce the number of police the University would have to hire. Kim said false alarms and practical jokes could be avoided by fining those who misuse the device. Kim said the technology for his security system is available, and it would take just a year for him and a group of students to create a prototype. Kim, an entrepreneurial management major, said that patents on his idea alone could cost him $20,000 apiece and that he would need "several" patents. The U.S. Patent Office charges $10,000 for the creation of a patent, and an additional $800-per-year over the next 14 years to protect the idea. Although his concept is not yet protected by a patent, Kim said he keeps a diary to record every new concept that he is thinking of developing. And Kim said he wrote a letter to the Patent Office detailing the idea, which he said is kept in a safe there. "It doesn't give you much protection," Kim said. But if he has to go to court to defend the idea, the Patent Office has an official record of when he conceived of the idea. Kim's ideas aren't just pies-in-the-sky. The inventor created a cordless-like phone system last year, only to have a "copy-cat" take the idea right out from under his nose because Kim couldn't afford a patent. "Someone else did it," Kim said. "And it's selling really well. I even bought one."

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