2023 National Invention Convention Winners from California Invention Convention

The 2023 Raytheon Technologies Invention Convention U.S. Nationals were held June 7-9, 2023 at The Henry Ford in Dearborn, Michigan, attended by hundreds of young inventors from Invention Education programs from all across the United States. We are so proud of ALL the inventors from the California Invention Convention who earned an invitation to Nationals! Their inventions demonstrate the best of creative thinking and practical follow-through and we congratulate them.

Seventy-nine (79) inventors from the 2023 California Invention Convention were invited to the 2023 U.S. Nationals and 74 were able to attend . For 5 of our students, there were date conflicts and they were unable to compete. Only those who attend the Invention Convention Nationals in-person are eligible to be considered for any awards or to be invited to the Americas event. However, our inventors representing the California Invention Convention who were able to attend had an inspiring and fun time at the National event.

Some of our inventors attending Nationals earned awards– special Congratulations to these students!! They are listed below and in the adjoining columns in alphabetical order, along with the name of their award(s) and the name and a short description of their project in their own words. Also, a number of these students were invited to attend the Invention Convention Americas 2023 – the culminating event of the National conventions held in Mexico and the United States.

Be sure to scroll down to see pictures of some of California’s young inventors at Nationals.

Invited to Invention Convention Americas 2023 -Anant Arora – (2 Awards) Industry Award: Energy Presented by ITC Holdings Corp and Invention Process Award: Best Logbook for his invention Human Powered Energy Harvester. which is a device that harvests our human motions and movement driven by kinetic energy into usable electricity. It solves several problems:
• Running out of charge: It helps you charge your devices on the go without being dependent on battery power.
• Motivates you to stay healthy: The more steps you take the more electricity you generate.
• Environmental pollution: It helps generate a clean alternate source of electricity.
• It helps reduce the strain on the electric grid.

Invited to Invention Convention Americas 2023 – Avish Banerjee – Global Change Accessibility Award for his invention PRO-SAFETY (Preventive Risk Observation And Safety Alert Technology For Industry) designed to prevent/reduce the occurrences of construction site injuries due to environmental heat exposures, collision with approaching objects, overexertion and slips/falls or trips. Sensors and coded micro:bits detect the following and sound alarms warning workers so that injuries can be prevented/reduced:
1) Environmental heat exposures, 2) Approaching objects. 3) Overexertion and 4) Slips/falls and trips

Chloe Barraza and Sofia Flores – Grade 7 Award: 3rd Place for their invention Stall-O-Gap-Eliminator which gives needed privacy while using public restrooms. It covers the gap in public restroom stalls and shows others that the stall is occupied.

Anish Bhethanabotla – Grade 10 Award: 2nd Place for his invention Retivision – An Advanced and Economical Method for Precise Fundus Disease Detection via Retinal Imaging and Deep Learning. Retivision solves the problem of inadequate early detection of diseases. The device is a system that utilizes non-invasive fundus photography and deep learning to predict various diseases with high accuracy. Retivision is highly accessible, and ensures that patients can undergo the examination quickly and comfortably. Additionally, the device is economical, costing $150, which makes it an accessible solution for early disease detection. One device can be reused for multiple patients and can help thousands.

Invited to Invention Convention Americas 2023 – Ethan Chung – Industry Award: Sports, Games & Toys for his invention Transforma-Tee. The Transforma-Tee helps solve the problem of athletes facing different weather and temperature conditions while in the middle of play, and being unable to quickly change. Athletes usually have to be in proper uniform with their jersey showing, and cannot wear jackets or sweaters during a game. But sometimes, games can take hours and players experience changes in the weather or gym temperature, making them feel too hot or too cold. The Transforma-Tee allows them to easily modify their uniform to suit playing conditions.

Invited to Invention Convention Americas 2023 – Charlotte Cook and Charlotte Wright – Grade 7 Award: 1st Place for their invention Becoming Aware. Many kids don’t know if they have mental health disorders until they’re older, and they are just called fidgety or unfocused. For kids faced with mental health challenges, it can often feel lonely and hard. Our app Becoming Aware solves this problem by educating kids through games about common mental health challenges people face. (Our app includes disorders/challenges such as anxiety and depression.) It also provides kids with simple ways to cope with their stress, and ways to privately communicate with their teachers and licensed therapists on the app about any of their problems or concerns.

Invited to Invention Convention Americas 2023 – Jack Driscoll-Natale – (2 Awards) Patent Application Winner and Specialty Award: Connectivity Presented by Raytheon Technologies for his invention H20 Monitoring For All: Solar Powered High-Frequency Water Quality Monitoring Device with Direct Continuous WiFi Data Uploading. The ability to closely monitor and analyze the health of our waterways easily, affordably, and in a timely manner is the problem my project takes on. I designed and programmed a water quality monitoring device that continuously samples for three key water health parameters and sends the monitoring data in real time to an open access website I created.
My device and website provide the public with water health data that is easily accessible, accurate, timely, low cost, and solar powered. Overall, my device and website can serve as a “canary in the water” alerting the public to real time trends and threats to water health.

Pictures from Nationals

Invited to Invention Convention Americas 2023 – Charlotte Fan and Wyatt Newbill – (3 Awards) Grade 8 Award: 1st Place, Invention Process Award: Best Logbook and Licensing Potential Winners for their invention Terreus. Our product Terreus is a 100% biodegradable substitute for Styrofoam and solves the problem of microplastics – which have been widely documented as being damaging to the ecosystem, wildlife and human health. Terreus is made from 4 simple materials that are sustainable and eco-friendly. It is strong enough to be used in packaging. As it is 100% biodegradable, it has no impact on the environment. It will not break down into harmful microplastics, so it will not kill any marine wildlife, or be ingested or inhaled by humans. There are only two main competitors to Terreus, and neither are entirely biodegradable.

Nidhi Lawange – Patent Application Winner for her invention DanceItRight:Self Correction System for Dance Moves Using Machine Learning. I have been doing ballet dance for the last 13 years. During the pandemic, I took dance lessons through google meet/zoom call videos. I realized the challenge that my dance teacher faced when attempting to correct our dance moves online. That hindered my and my dance teammates’ abilities to improve the techniques in response to the teacher’s feedback. This inspired me to design, code and test my invention prototype – which will help dancers correct themselves without the physical presence of a teacher and provide dance move corrections independent of the dancer’s physique.

Invited to Invention Convention Americas 2023 – Aarav Patel – Grade 4: 1st Place for his invention CheckPak. My solution warns kids if they’ve forgotten their school supplies like water bottles, lunch box, pencil case, etc by turning the LED on the backpack red. Kids can then use the locator to find the missing school supply. Once all the necessary school supplies are in the backpack, the LED on the backpack turns green – meaning all the school supplies are where they should be.

Invited to Invention Convention Americas 2023 – Emi Tanimura – Invention Process Award: Best Prototype for her invention EcoPhant Watering Can. My invention solves the problem of having to use different size watering cans for different size pots. Los Angeles County issued a watering ban for two weeks this past summer where residents were not allowed to water their plants using hoses or sprinklers. This left us with watering cans! However, I needed to use different size watering cans. EcoPhant is a drought friendly watering can with a ball valve to adjust the water flow and a detachable filter to reuse shower water and rain water.

Reimi Tanimura – Grade 3: 2nd Place for her invention Wrap-N-GO Pencil Holder which can help solve the problem of constantly losing pens and pencils. It is a pencil holder that wraps around a water bottle or wrist. Velcro is attached to the front and back of the Wrap-N-GO Pencil Holder, so students can easily attach and detach it from their wrists and water bottles. My invention includes a pocket to protect pencil tips and elastic pen loops to securely hold the pens and pencils. My invention will help remind students to put away their pens and pencils because it is visible and not hidden in their desk. It also provides a convenient way for storing them.

Sarah Varghese – Grade 7: 2nd Place for her invention LOST IT? LOC8 IT! – A lost and found app for the blind. My invention tackles the blind population’s biggest challenge – finding lost things. It also helps them gain independence at the same time. My app uses phone’s camera in place of a human eye to scan the user’s surroundings to locate their lost items. It can be launched with a blind-friendly voice command and utilizes vibrations and vocal announcements to notify when the object has been detected.

Grace Woo – Grade 1: 3rd Place for her invention Mud Be Gone. A very real life problem in our school is the mud that comes from our shoes after a morning of Run Club in the wet and dewy field. Mud clumps and muddy paper towels are everywhere outside and inside the school. With my invention, it solves getting all of the mud off of our shoes right away when it is placed on the grass field so that the mud stays in our Earth. Shoes are clean. Teachers have clean carpets.

Invited to Invention Convention Americas 2023 – Haley Yang – (2 Awards) – Grade 1: 1st Place and Industry Award: Household Organization and Appliances for her invention Anti Gravity Tissue Case. I was struggling with pulling out tissue from the bottom of the tissue box, when it’s almost out of it. I find out that all this is because of the gravity, so I made it upside down. So with gravity, all the tissues can come out naturally and easily until the very end of the stock. I don’t need to put my hands into the box to pull out the low stock tissue.