Modern inventions aren't all about robots and moving sidewalks - Penn students' creative ideas may now include a social impact component, too. PennVention - the annual student-run innovation competition organized by the Weiss Tech House - recently announced the Meltwater Social Impact Award, which aims "to support a student team that has an idea for a product or service that can help the local or global community," said Wharton and Engineering junior Matthew Owens, the PennVention co-chair. The contest, now in its fourth year, supports students in conceptualizing, developing and ultimately commercializing products or services.
Any PennVention application that fits the MSIA criteria of demonstrating "potential benefits, practicality, sustainability and innovativeness of the project," will automatically be considered for the award, Owens said. The judges will most heavily emphasize how "the team brings a new perspective to address the problem," he added. The award recipients - in addition to winning a cash prize of $2,500 - will be invited to apply for an additional scholarship worth $30,000 provided by the Meltwater Group, a Norwegian media-monitoring company. In addition to MSIA, PennVention provides other awards for specific strengths in some of the applications. The QVC Consumer Innovation Award offers the chance for a consumer-centric product idea to be sold on QVC, while the Bresslergroup Product Concept Award recognizes a project with a strong plan for marketing and prototyping. The group that wins the Lowenstein Sandler PC Legal Mentor Award will receive five hours of free legal advice. Previous winners of PennVention have gone on to successfully develop and market their ideas in the real world. Wharton senior Derek Zoch, who participated in the competition in 2007 along with Engineering senior Steve Jones, constructed the Quicker Kicker. It is "a mechanical football holder that is for place kickers to practice kicking as they would in a real game situation," Zoch said. Zoch and Jones won the Innovation Fund at the Weiss Tech House and were among the top-10 finalists at the National Collegiate Inventors Competition. PennVention is a "good all-around learning experience," Zoch added. The strength of the program, Owens said, is that it provides "tangible resources like prototyping and mentoring." Wharton alumnus Samuel Reeves, another past winner, created The Minesweeper. Later renamed the Specialised Compact Automatic Mechanical De-Mining Platform, the SCAMP is "a tool that blows up mines," Reeves said. Since Reeves won PennVention, his company has been able to attract a board of advisors, including actor Michael Douglas, he said. The entries for the Achievement round are due by Feb. 16, 2008 at 11:59 p.m
