Chicago Student Invention Convention Celebrates 10 Years of Inspiring Creative Problem-Solving and Invention with Expansion Announcement
Ingenuity is on virtual display Saturday, May 21 as over 200 students from throughout metro Chicago learn if they are among 50 advancing to Invention Convention U.S. Nationals during the Chicago Student Invention Convention‘s 10th annual Awards Ceremony.
Inspiring curiosity, confidence, and creative problem-solving in youth, the Chicago Student Invention Convention is a curriculum-based program focused on critical thinking, creativity, and innovation for local students in grades K-8, which culminates in a competition of student-built prototypes. Celebrating its tenth year, the program has reached over 20,000 students in the Chicagoland area since its inception.
Held at the Illinois Institute of Technology, the event culminates a 10-week innovation curriculum that was delivered to 1,500 students, mostly low-income in CPS, to encourage creative problem-solving through invention.
For the past 10 years, the Chicago Student Invention Convention has been the city’s largest program focused on student-led invention prototypes. Past student winners have earned awards at the national level, have been paired with industry mentors, have had the opportunity to earn patents, and have had additional prototypes of their inventions made.
The program is run by Chicago Innovation, an organization that has been focusing on educating, connecting and celebrating innovators in the Chicago region for the past 20 years. As a program of Chicago Innovation, the Chicago Student Invention Convention inspires curiosity, confidence, and creative problem-solving in youth through a focus on applied STEM and invention education. The program provides training to educators in its free invention curriculum along with student mentorship opportunities, and regional invention convention competitions.
“We need to encourage students’ curiosity by inspiring young people to innovate early,” added Tom Kuczmarski, Founder of Chicago Innovation. “Innovation is all about creating solutions to solve problems, and that’s a mindset that any child can engage with.”
This year, the Chicago Student Invention Convention will be returning to an in-person event format. The event will take place on Saturday, May 21, 2022 at Herman Hall at the Illinois Institute of Technology from 11:00 AM to 1:15 PM. Starting at 11:00 AM, students will have an opportunity to display their invention prototypes. At 12:00 PM, the awards ceremony, honoring exceptional student inventors, will begin. A celebratory luncheon will be served. 14 winning finalists will then be invited to compete at the Raytheon Technologies Invention Convention U.S. Nationals at The Henry Ford in Dearborn, Michigan from May 31 to June 3.
A special announcement regarding the future of Chicago Student Invention Convention and the program’s mission to provide youth STEM and invention education will be announced at the event.
Interviews are available with student inventors, teachers, and organizers of the Chicago Student Invention Convention upon request.
About Chicago Innovation:
Chicago Innovation was established in 2002 as the Chicago Innovation Awards, an annual ceremony to celebrate the most innovative products and services in the Chicago region. The organization has evolved into a year-round series of events and activities designed to educate, connect and celebrate innovators in the Chicago region. The organization’s expansion includes the Chicago Student Invention Convention to empower Chicago’s youth to be innovators, the Chicago Innovation Women Mentoring Co-op to support female innovators, The Ladder to support Black and Latine innovators in advancing their careers, and Ageless Innovators, an inter-generational co-mentoring program.