The 14th annual Thomas Edison Pitch Contest finals, brought to you by Edison Innovation Foundation, showcased the brilliance and creativity of young minds, including students from 8 different states and even from Malaysia. These students were selected from approximately 889 students from 114 schools across the country.
These inventive students competed across elementary, middle, and high school categories, presenting innovative solutions to the world’s biggest problems that captivated the judges and audience alike. The competition, which began in November 2023, demanded a rigorous program of invention development, oral presentations and artistic production culminating in the final round held at the historic Thomas Edison National Historical Park in West Orange, NJ.
A distinguished panel of technical, scientific, and business professionals judged the finalists on their advanced prototypes, creativity, and entrepreneurship. Finalist teams presented their projects both in person or via Zoom.
Below are the final team rankings by school category:
Elementary School Awards
- The PEG Stars
Project: Recall It Memory Exercise
School: Avanel Middle School, Avanel, NJ
The PEG Stars impressed the judges with their innovative memory exercise tool designed to enhance cognitive abilities in a fun and engaging way that used data analysis to prove effectiveness. - Advaspire Squad
Project: Smart Animal Shelter Sponsor System
School: Advaspire Robotic Academy, Malaysia
This international team created a system to help animal shelters find sponsors, showcasing their empathy and technological prowess. - The Star Inventors
Project: Refridrop Hat
School: Avanel Middle School, Avanel, NJ
The Star Inventors’ creative hat design addresses overheating everywhere from gym class to vacations with a cooling mechanism, demonstrating their practical thinking to improve other students’ daily lives.
Middle School Awards
- Revere
Project: Tornado Detection System
School: STEM School Highlands Ranch, Colorado
Team Revere’s automated drone system aimed at early tornado detection could potentially save thousands of lives, taking his commitment to public safety to a new level with a never before created technology. - Firefighters
Project: Quick Wildfire Detection System
School: Switzerland Point Middle School, Florida
The Firefighters designed a system to detect wildfires early on a personal, household level – highlighting not only their awareness of environmental issues but ingenuity in using already available solutions in new ways. - Radar Ducks
Project: Emergency Vehicle Detection System
School: Hockaday School, Texas
Radar Ducks developed a system to help detect emergency vehicles, ensuring better response times and safer roads.
High School Awards
- S-Cubed
Project: Flower Feeder Drone
School: Santa Clara High School, California
S-Cubed’s innovative drone design to aid in flower pollination across the world showcased their ingenuity with one-of-a-kind systems like custom drone elements, automatic pollen dispensing mechanism and thermal mapping that distinguished flowers ready to be pollinated. - Jonah And Lucas Mite Removal Service
Project: Save the Bees
School: Shaker High School, New York
This first-of-its-kind innovation, aimed at protecting bees from mites and declining bee populations, also won the prestigious Edison-Nexans Sustainability Award, highlighting its significance in a sustainable future and use of solar power. - Denton Duo
Project: Diabetes Bento Box
School: Wilson Early College Association, North Carolina
Denton Duo’s project provides a practical and advanced solution for managing kid’s diabetes, combining better nutrition tracking and smart technology in a single solution in a space that is lacking up-to-date tools such as this. - Amphora
Project: Gallium Nitride Portable Radio
School: Northwood High School, California
Amphora’s portable radio design utilizing gallium nitride demonstrates advanced technological knowledge and innovation, offering a solution to emergency responders that is much more efficient than current technologies.
2024 Trends in Student Inventions
A significant trend observed this year was the extensive use of AI-related technology by many teams to enhance their projects. This integration of cutting-edge technology reflects the forward-thinking mindset of these young innovators. Notably, three teams have already expressed their intention to secure patent protection for their inventions, indicating the practical and marketable nature of their solutions.
The Thomas Edison Pitch Contest continues to be a platform where young minds are inspired to innovate and address real-world challenges, honoring the legacy of one of history’s greatest inventors. It is a celebration of creativity, technical skill, and the boundless potential of the next generation of inventors.
Thank You to Our Thomas Edison Pitch Contest Sponsors
A special thank you to our gold sponsors, Nexans, for sponsoring this year’s competition and Edison-Nexans Award, as well as the rest of our sponsors – Edison Electric Inc, S. J. Carney Roofing and Maintenance and the Cobblefield Fund for backing the bright minds of tomorrow.