Bria Williams, a 3rd grader from Gary, IN and a winner of the Indiana Invention Convention recently participated at the 3rd Annual National Invention Convention and Entrepreneurship Expo (NICEE). The event was produced by The STEMIE Coalition, a non-profit founded to elevate K-12 STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education alongside invention and entrepreneurship to a national level.
Williams says her invention “the Purr-poseful Therapeutic Blanket solves the problem of people with cat allergies who have either high blood pressure and breathing problems not being able to benefit from the cat’s purr healing.”
The National Invention Convention and Entrepreneurship Expo is organized and produced by the STEMIE Coalition and was held at The Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation in Dearborn Michigan on June 1, 2018. Over 108,000 K-12 student inventors competed from across the United States, Mexico and Canada in local competitions earlier this year.
“This determination to solve problems, now, while they are young, is something we see over and over again in state and local Invention Conventions across the United States,” noted Danny Briere, CEO of The STEMIE Coalition, the nonprofit organizer of NICEE. “K-12 invention education is tapping into students’ innate desires and abilities to identify problems and create meaningful solutions.”
“Encouraging young innovators is the pathway to America’s future, and the future of our workforce,” noted presenting sponsor United Technologies Corporation’s Mary Lombardo, Vice President of Global Engineering for UTC Climate, Controls & Security. “The students at NICEE never fail to inspire and amaze us.”
“We are thrilled to hold this event at the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation for the first time,” added Veronica Lynagh, Executive Vice President of The STEMIE Coalition. “Our organizations share a common goal of growing the invention education movement in schools throughout the U.S. and beyond. We increased our participation this year in the national convention from 17 to 20 states, and from 292 to 437 student inventors. We also had six visiting countries interested in learning how to bring STEMIE’s Invention Convention program to their countries to further the innovation movement in schools.”
