Inventerprise Contest
Inventerprise, begun in 1992, is a yearly science contest where a
question is posed that challenges would-be scientists to pursue
inventive solutions to pressing problems. The contest is sponsored by
Bend Research with assistance from the Bend-La Pine School District and
Central Oregon Community College. It is announced every year in
September and judging takes place in mid-November.
Central Oregon Students Win Inventerprise 2007 Contest
There’s not much water in the Moab desert, but darkling beetles survive
there. Using plates on their back, they condense water vapor from the air into
liquid water that runs down the plates into their mouths.
These beetles inspired two Central Oregon students to build their own
condenser plates that can pull water from the air. Their invention was just one
of many submitted by area students in Inventerprise 2007. The annual science
contest is sponsored by Bend Research Inc., with help from Bend-La Pine schools
and Central Oregon Community College.
This year’s challenge was for students to draw inspiration from insects to
invent something that benefits the Earth. About 360 entries were submitted by
around 500 students in grades K-12 from all over Central Oregon including
Madras, Paulina, Redmond, Sisters, Sunriver, and Bend.
Ben Camel and David Petrich were the middle-school students who came up with
the water-collection system, which was the top middle-school entry. Camel of
Cascade Middle School and Petrich of Trinity Lutheran School both won iPods from
a prize list that also included a digital camera, a mountain bike, and a season
pass to Mt. Bachelor. Nineteen other middle-school students will receive
specially designed T-shirts for their exceptional entries.
Homeschooled student Luke Wheeler garnered a $1,000 cash award for the top
high-school entry. His idea was a fleet of planetary exploration robots whose
work organization resembles an insect colony and whose individual craft have
design features often seen in insects. The runner-up, Pawel Buczkowski of Summit
High School, received $500 for his plan for using synthetic scorpion venom in a
scheme to destroy tumors from within. Fellow Summit students Chris Minar and
Lucas Estabrook will each pocket $100 for their strong entries.
Dozens of other K-5 students will receive T-shirts for the top entries in
their age groups. They will also be invited to a special Science Night
presentation at Bend Research. All students submitting entries will receive
certificates and pencils for their effort.
Some of the standout ideas in this year’s contest included:
- a spring-loaded shoe modeled after a grasshopper leg,
- a spray based on spider saliva to remove spider webs from unwanted, and
- a shoe that transfers a small amount of scent to the ground which
searchers can follow if the hiker gets lost (much like ants mark trails).
Several students had ideas for harnessing the same biochemical reaction used
by fireflies to produce cheap light for human applications. A fifth-grade
student suggested we might use mosquitoes to spread antibodies instead of the
dread diseases that we normally associate with them. Other students drew
inspiration from the compound eyes of insects to propose devices that will allow
us to see in all directions.
This is the 16th anniversary of the Inventerprise contest. The idea for the
contest came from a 1992 conference sponsored by the Jacob Javits Foundation.
The purpose of the contest was to build business-education partnerships to
enrich students’ educational experiences. The award winners are listed below.
Inventerprise 2007 Winners
1st Grade
Kale Poynor, Erika Olivera Jonathan Alexander, Madras Elementary David
Novotny, Sisters Elementary Gabe Satterlee, Tom McCall Elementary
2nd Grade
Ryan Barnes, Tom McCall Elementary Jack Lange, Bear Creek Elementary Spencer
Kemp, Pierce Johnson, Chayce Sproat, Sisters Elementary
3rd Grade
Chance Simpson, Madison Leighton, Jaren Osborne, Eric Sisson, Claire Platt,
Courtney Soper, Delos Erikson, Chandler Wellman, Skyler Grace, Megan Waller, Tom
McCall Elementary
4th Grade
Morgan Page, Sierra Blair, Tom McCall Elementary Andy McIlvenna, Bear Creek
Elementary Norrin Rios, Max Tee, Aubrey Holliday, Kimberly Alanso, Mahtayua
Roach, Alicia Norata, Buff Elementary Bethany Bachmeier, Sisters Christian Maria
Keller, Paulina Elementary Makaela Jones, Logan Johnson, Kassidy Davidson, Zoe
Roth, Nickolas Osterhoudt, Afif Adli, Joshua Reed, Talia Chen, Martin Girardi,
Matt Hicks, Nathaniel Rodgers, Olivia Cambern, Juniper Elementary
5th Grade
Merissa Pringle, Rachel Gibb, Carol Sanchez, Shaneez McConnell, Bear Creek
Elementary Molly Boyle, Annie Miner, Sisters Middle Jevin James, Mikayla
Browning, Reid Stroup, Paige Davis, Tanner Stevens, Evergreen Elementary Chantel
Dannis, Jessie Johnson, Tom McCall Elementary Annie Bricker, Hannah Anderson,
Allison Berry, Emily Bricker, Hannah Harrington, Sage Reuter, Sarah Perkins,
Abigail Lange, Riley Bailey, Jean Foran, Kylie Mintz, Amber Goemaat, Juniper
Elementary
Middle School
1st Place: Ben Camel, Cascade Middle School and David Petrich, Trinity
Lutheran Garrett Taylor, Jessica Stinson, Ohshay Summerhalder, Jefferson County
Middle School Kaylee Tornay, Anya Hall, Allyn Amerongen, Matt Hogstad, Luna
Fagan, High Desert Middle School Autumn Elmore, Max Stamler. Kieran Hurst-McCreedy,
Alec Fefferman, Cascades Academy Caleb Harrison, Three Rivers Elementary Molly
Burke, Keelin Moehl, Sarah West, Veronica West, Evan Heaton, Kathryn Simpson,
Cascade Middle School
High School
1st Place: Luke Wheeler, Homeschool
2nd Place: Pawel Buczkowski, Summit High
3rd Place: Lucas Estabrook and Chris Minar, Summit High (tie)
For more
information about the program, please contact Ed LaChapelle at
lachapelle@bendres.com
or call him at 382-4100. Additional information can be found at
www.cocc.edu/inventerprise.
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