Accelerate Time to Market with Breakthrough Innovation
InnoCentive isn't the only website that offers prizes for your inventions and problem solving expertise. Here are some sites that you may find interesting and provide additional opportunities for you to solve problems and earn cash. We’ve also provided some links for your kids and grandkids — get their problem solving wheels turning early!
Modern Marvels Invent Now
The "Modern Marvels Invent Now" Challenge is an annual invention contest that invites independent inventors to share their vision and ingenious design with the world. The challenge celebrates mankind's ingenuity and is an extraordinary opportunity for the independent investors to influence the ever-changing face of invention.
Create the future design contest
The "Create the Future" design contest rewards the best ideas for new products, and celebrates breakthrough thinking about problems of all kinds, large and small. Products will be judged on Innovation, Manufacturability, Marketability and Cost-effectiveness.
The Lemelson-MIT Awards
The Lemelson-MIT Awards honor both established and rising inventors for their ingenuity, creativity and contribution to invention and innovation. The awards recognize the profound impact that inventors can have on economic and social well-being.
Staples Invention Quest
The Staples Invention Quest® challenges its customers to be the brains behind the next great office product.
The Dupont Plunkett awards
DuPont is a science company that makes the materials that allow you to invent, imagine and improve. No matter what the application or the inventor's field, DuPont aims to recognize and reward the science behind the creative vision, and celebrate the ingenious use of DuPont fluoropolymer resins, films, fibers and finishes. Judges will select entries based on degree of innovation, breadth of use and commercial significance.
The Netflix Prize
The Netflix prize seeks to substantially improve the accuracy of predictions about how much someone is going to love a movie based on their movie preferences. Improve it and win one or more prizes. Winning the Netflix prize improves the ability to connect to people to the movies they love.
Clear Prize for Checkpoint Technology Innovation
Clear aims to make their security checkpoints process more efficient while enhancing security. In their effort to help travelers speed through airport security, they will award the first team that can install technology — at their expense — at/in a real world security checkpoint, and purchase the winning team’s technology, once approved for use by the Transportation Security Administration at any airport where Clear operates fast pass lanes.
X Prize Foundation
The X PRIZE Foundation creates and manages prizes that drive innovators to solve some of the greatest challenges facing the world today.
Collegiate Inventors Competition
For 17 years, the Collegiate Inventors Competition has recognized and encouraged undergraduate and graduate students on their quest to change the world around them. The Competition is one of the most prestigious honors available to college and university innovators. It promotes exploration in invention, science, engineering, technology, and other creative endeavors and provides a window on the technologies from which society will benefit in the future.
Royal Academy of Engineering/Nexia Solutions Innovation Prize
This prize has been instituted to recognize both organizations and individuals who have made significant contributions in the whole field of Engineering Education. The prize is focused on innovation in the approach taken to teaching the subject whereby a single prize of £10,000 and a trophy is awarded annually.
Contests for Kids
Staples Invention Quest kids
New this year is Staples® Invention Quest® Kids®. In collaboration with By Kids for Kids Co. (BKFK™), Staples is giving kids up to the age of 18 the chance to bring their ideas for easy school or office products to fruition. Furthering Staples' commitment to making it easy, Staples Invention QuestÒ helps uncover even more new office products that simplify the work day.
Idea locker
The Idea Locker, powered by BKFK™, is a private online space where teens can create, develop, store and share their ideas, and even enter them in ongoing contests to win prizes. BKFK™ will transform outstanding ideas into commercial products if applicable.
Intel Science Talent Search
The Intel Science Talent Search (Intel STS) — often called the "Junior Nobel Prize" — is the country's premiere pre-college science competition. Every year, high-school students enter Intel STS with original projects from a wide range of mathematics and science disciplines in order to compete for $1.25 million in scholarships.
National Science Teachers Association
The National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) is the largest organization in the world committed to promoting excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all. NSTA administers awards a student competition to recognize the professional efforts of teachers and the innovative talents of their students.
Bubble Wrap Competition for Young Inventors
Sealed Air Corporation, the creator of Bubble Wrap® cushioning, is sponsoring the Bubble Wrap® Competition for Young Inventors to encourage students in grades 5-8 to demonstrate their creativity and ingenuity by creating an invention that incorporates the use of Bubble Wrap® cushioning.
Erden Eruc's Education Portal
Erden Eruç is a Turkish American circumnavigating the world only on human power. He is currently rowing across the Pacific Ocean and is due to arrive in Australia in 2008. Around-n-Over, National Museum of Education, Northwest Invention Center and WhaleNet have combined their efforts in a joint collaboration with Eruç to support educational outreach based on Erden Eruç's travels.
ExploraVision (Toshiba)
Now in its 16th year, ExploraVision encourages K-12 students of all interest, skill and ability levels to create and explore a vision of future technology by combining their imaginations with the tools of science. All inventions and innovations result from creative thinking and problem solving. That's what ExploraVision is all about.