This is a rendering of the MineWerks patent-pending detection system that can sense the presence of many dangerous compounds from a distance.

MineWerks is the brainchild of Rensselaer students. Some of the teams members go over the prototype design and device features in the Electronic Club space. From left to right: Brian Zaik, Dane Kouttron, Kevin Menear, and student Chris Scully. Photo Credit: Rensselaer/Daria Robbins.

NCIIA’s March Madness for the Mind shines spotlight on young inventors at the Smithsonian Institution

Today, a team of Rensselaer students is among several collegiate teams from around the country that will showcase their innovative technologies during the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA) annual March Madness for the Mind exhibition in conjunction with the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation. The event will at the recently re-opened National Museum of American History. 

MineWerks is developing a groundbreaking, patent-pending detection system that can sense the presence of many dangerous compounds from a distance. The brainchild of Rensselaer undergraduate students Alessandro Gerbini, Dane Kouttron, Kevin Menear, and Brian Zaik, and graduate student Chris Scully, the device is being designed to help solve the global problem associated with unexploded ordnances such as landmines and improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

“We have been working on this project for some time,” said Chris Scully, chief operating officer. “Our team is very excited and grateful for this opportunity to showcase our invention. The NCIIA has provided our team with funding, coaching, and support that has been absolutely crucial to our development, putting us one step closer to closer to achieving our goal: a world without landmines.”

Scully also noted that with many explosives detection mechanisms costing tens of thousands of dollars and requiring great expertise for operation, the low-cost and easy to use MineWerks device offers a paradigm shift from the state of the art. 

The annual exhibition provides an opportunity for the nation’s top Excellence and Entrepreneurship Teams (E-Teams) — collaborating groups of college students, faculty, and industry mentors who have received NCIIA grants — to unveil their inventions to the public, many for the first time. More than a dozen E-Teams will display their state-of-the-art innovations during the public exhibition, as well as at a private exhibition for conference guests attending the NCIIA’s Thirteenth Annual Meeting.

“Now more than ever the economy needs to be stimulated by innovation, and these students are on the right path to making a difference,” said Phil Weilerstein, executive director of the NCIIA. 

“We developed this technology with the goal of providing a fast, cheap, reliable, and safe explosives detection method that can be utilized for both military and humanitarian purposes,” said Kevin Menear, director of R&D. “We believe that we can reduce the time and cost associated with explosives detection, and open the doors for widespread use of our device. The MineWerks vision is to get high-quality explosives detection methods into the hands of those with the most need:  the soldiers on the battlefield wary of IEDs and roadside bombs and the farmers and villagers in communities ravaged by landmines.”

“The best inventors look at the things we all take for granted and say, this could be better,” said Burt Swersey, lecturer in mechanical, aerospace, and nuclear engineering at Rensselaer and adviser to the team. “MineWerks was able to identify real-life problems and solve it through self-motivation, creative thinking, and innovation. That is what we strive for with all of our students.”

Other participating teams in this year’s event will include: 

• Intelligent Mobility International. Safe, durable, and affordable wheelchairs made primarily from old mountain bicycles for the millions of disabled people in the developing world. (California Institute of Technology) 
• Real-Time, High-Accuracy 3-D Imaging System. Software that completes high-quality 3-D scans without the delays of current technology. (Catholic University) 
• Solar Turbine Group. Solar thermal technology that offers a sustainable and affordable source of energy in rural areas, to be piloted at a health clinic in Southern Africa. (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) 
• Lemelson-MIT InvenTeam “Coyote Inventors.” A pressure-sensitive illuminated computer cable — Torch Cord™ — will help users easily identify when a cord is generating power. (Clarksburg High School, Md.) 

The NCIIA works with the nation’s leading universities and colleges to help E-Teams move their innovative technologies from idea to market. According to the organization, approximately 42 patent applications have resulted from projects supported by NCIIA grants, which have also helped to create 60 new businesses. The companies manufacture and sell products in many industries including wireless technology, medical devices, alternative energy, construction, safety, and transport, among others. 

In addition to March Madness for the Mind, programming for the NCIIA’s Thirteenth Annual Meeting, which brings engineering, science, and business faculty together for three days of workshops, events, and featured speakers, will include the kick-off event for Venture Well, a new initiative of NCIIA intended to connect student teams with investors and advisers. For more information, go to: http://venturewell.org. 

About the NCIIA
The NCIIA achieves positive and sustainable social and environmental impact through technological innovation by providing end-to-end service grants, mentoring, and other experiential resources to higher education institutions. With support from the Lemelson Foundation, the National Science Foundation, and a membership of nearly 200 colleges and universities from all over the United States, the NCIIA engages more than 5,000 student entrepreneurs each year, leveraging their respective campuses as working laboratories and incubators for businesses and ultimately helping them to bring their concepts to commercialization. For more information, please visit http://www.nciia.org.

About the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation
Since 1995, the Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History has explored the role of invention and innovation in the United States. The Lemelson Center was established through a generous gift from the Lemelson Foundation. For more information, please visit http://invention.smithsonian.org.

About the Lemelson Foundation
The Lemelson Foundation uses its resources to inspire, encourage, and recognize inventors, innovators, and entrepreneurs to support invention-led economic, social, and environmentally sustainable development.  It has donated or committed more than $150 million in support of its mission to improve lives through invention in the U.S. and developing countries.  For more information, please visit http://www.lemelson.org.