The Intellectual Property Owners Education Foundation (IPOEF) honored three inventors this past winter at the Inventor of the Year celebration in Washington D.C. The recipients shared their gratitude toward their mentors, including parents, teachers, and colleagues.
Inventor of the Year award: Dr. Cato T. Laurencin, is an engineer, orthopedic surgeon and scientist, who pioneered the field of Regenerative Engineering, which has led to innovations in treating musculoskeletal conditions. Dr. Laurencin is a professor at the University of Connecticut with degrees from Princeton, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard. Learn more about Dr. Laurencin's work here.
Dr. Laurencin discusses the vital role of Black inventors in U.S. history who often did not get credit for their work:
Discussion Questions: Why do you think Black inventors like Lewis Latimer and Elijah McCoy don't get the credit they deserve?
How has Dr. Laurencin contributed to the efforts to grow the field of Regenerative Engineering?
IP Champion award: The IPOEF honored Dr. Irwin M. Jacobs, co-founder of Qualcomm, with the IP Champion Award. Jacobs, an electrical engineer, pioneered the use of CDMA technology for commercial cell phone networks, which changed the course of the modern world.
Inspiration Award: Inventor Audrey Larson, a junior majoring in Material Science Engineering at the University of Connecticut, received the IPOEF's Inspiration Award for her contributions to championing Intellectual Property (IP) rights on behalf of individuals of underrepresented communities.
Larson discusses how she designed her inventions out of concerns for her loved ones, including inventions that deal with climate change and gun violence:
Discussion Question: Can you think of any important issues or concerns in your personal life that can be solved with inventions?
Classroom spoke with Ana-Lois Davis, a high school student and youth reporter at the event, about her invention journey. Davis took part in Invention Convention, which you can learn about here.
Davis discusses two of her inventions and how her up and down journey is an essential part of the invention process:
Discussion Questions: How did Davis solve the issue of being unable to test her invention on patients?
What did Davis learn from the initial "less than ideal" prototypes of her inventions?
Bonus! Did you know the IPO Education Foundation will connect your students straight to an intellectual property professional right in your community to explain the world of patents, trademarks, trade secrets, and copyright? Click on this link to get connected.
Stay tuned here for IPOEF's announcement this summer for the 2024 honorees.
Join NewsHour Classroom's invention ed community where you can check out free lessons and attend inspiring Zooms with inventors, innovators and fellow teachers — or write your own blog post on PBS!
Be sure to check out United States Patent and Trademark Office's (USPTO) EquIP HQ website to learn more about intellectual property and the role of entrepreneurship in invention.
This post was produced by Raegan Lusk, a senior at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, and an intern with PBS NewsHour Classroom, and NewsHour's Vic Pasquantonio.
