On May 19th, the Edison Innovation Foundation gave awards to student team finalists from across the country in the annual Thomas Edison Pitch Contest. It was the 11th year of hosting this competition, and the second year hosted digitally!

The finalists were chosen from 205 teams representing 546 students from 24 states and 4 countries. The student teams from elementary, middle and high school displayed great creativity and inventive spirit. We want to thank our partners Gilbane, New Jersey Manufacturers Insurance, PicoSolutions, and the Cobblefield Fund for supporting this exciting event.

The students pitched their invention ideas to our expert judge panel consisting of education professionals, Edison experts, and technical/business experts to win 3D Printers, Science Kits, and other fun prizes for their schools!

Watch the full recap here:

The finalist teams for the 2021 were….

Elementary School:

1st Place: Team Micro Makers, Pine Trees Academy, South Carolina (Homeschool)

This duo saw a hole in the pet accessories market and seized the opportunity. While GPS trackers exist for big pets like dogs and cats, small pets like a lizard or ferret easily get lost in the house all the time. Their small animal tracker will light up and make sounds, so that you can find them anywhere in the house from under the dining room table to under a pile of clothes in your bedroom!

2nd Place: Team Creative Questioner, Perez Institute, Texas (Homeschool)

This student designed a pair of goggles to help better understand students with dyslexia. These goggles are meant to help teachers see what the student is experiencing and seeing from their end, help distinguish an accurate reading level, and make learning more enjoyable!

3rd Place: Team Bee Protectors, Sinking Springs Elementary, Pennsylvania

This team of students has created a bee habitat similar to a bird house, for people to put in their parks and backyards! In response to the dwindling population of bees in the U.S., these students have created a smart, inviting home for them that will help give them food and pollinate the town.

Middle School

1st Place: Team Shadowchasers, Juan Cabrillo Middle School, California 

How many times do you hit snooze on your alarm in the morning? This student team has created an alarm that will make you get up the first time. Using pressure sensors and specific coding, the mattress alarm will not stop ringing until it feels that you have gotten out of bed!

2nd Place: Team Girl Changing the World, Clarendon Avenue Elementary, Wisconsin

This student created the Lor-X Tree Tracker, a drone-like device to do the job of park rangers and data collectors quicker and more efficiently. Not only did she devise a new way to document the trees in a town for decision making, but she created a rental system on the device that any local town would invite!

3rd Place: Team Appulse, Francis Granger Middle School, Illinois

Anxiety has skyrocketed for many over the last year during the pandemic, so this student team has created a solution for those suffering with it. Their heart rate tracker and phone application go hand in hand to immediately signal when you might be anxious and give you ways to calm down in that moment.

High School

1st Place: Team Hot Paws, Hewitt-Trussville High School, Alabama

This duo has created an infrared dog leash meant to solve a problem that not many people think about with their dogs – Burns from pavement that is too hot! With this invention, pet owners can prevent pain and trip to the vet with just pointing the temperature gun at the ground to decide where it is safe for their pet to walk.

2nd Place: Team A Plus, Chatham High School, New Jersey

This student team created a traffic light of the future – A smart traffic light that can make decisions based on data patterns. By accumulating data from intersections over time, like traffic patterns, this light will make tailored decisions that keep waiting time, emissions, and accidents down.

3rd Place: Team Aqua Conservation Services, Ridgewood High School, New Jersey

This student team created the Hydrosave Faucet Attachment to make it easy to monitor and reduce the water usage in your house. Rather than buy a very expensive corporate faucet to automatically control your water flow, home owners can buy this attachment to keep their water bills and waste down.

Congratulations and great job inventors! 
You have captured the Thomas Edison spirit…..”There’s a better way to do it-find it!”