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Figure 2. Graduate and undergraduate student winners of the 2015 Collegiate Inventors Competition on stage at the USPTO.

hands-on STEM activities but also educates children Collegiate Inventors Competition
with age-appropriate introductions to the workings Also founded in 1990, the Collegiate Inventors
of USPTO and teaches them the value of patents, Competition encourages students’ innovative creativ-
trademarks, copyrights, and the American IP pro- ity, helping them break boundaries as they envision
tection system. a better society. It promotes collegiate competition
The program is taught in all 50 states plus among the country’s finest universities and connects
Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico by local, certi- the inventive spirit to entrepreneurship—encour-
fied teachers who receive professional development aging students to see the value of their ideas to our
training. Camp Invention reaches 120,000 children in society, continue to develop their inventions, patent
1,500 schools nationwide each summer and exponen-
tially more through teachers who report transferring their work, seek investors, start businesses, and con-
Camp Invention strategies to their own classrooms. tribute to new economies.
In 2017, 18,000 teachers and counselors participated Entries to the competition represent disciplines
in Camp Invention, each receiving on average 32.5 as varied as medical devices, biotechnology, nano-
hours of professional development. technology, renewable energy, robotics, and systems
Camp Invention develops an entirely new curric- engineering. Finalists are determined through two
ulum every year, allowing the program to provide a tiers of judging. In the preliminary round, entries
variety of different experiences for the many children are reviewed by expert judges in the applicant’s field
who participate over multiple years. NIHF inductees of invention or research. The scores from the pre-
help shape the curriculum, and it covers all fields of liminary round help to determine the finalists who
STEM. There is also a strong IP and entrepreneurial gather at the USPTO for an immersive judging and
component to help students think about marketing feedback experience with NIHF inductees and top
and commercializing their inventions. officials from the USPTO.