Principal Investigator Stephanie Couch
Co-investigators Liza Montner Goldstein , Anthony Perry , Michael Cima , Stephanie Martinovich , Betsy Boyle , Leigh Estabrooks , Marlena Love , Connie Wang
Project Website http://web.mit.edu/invent/index.html
From medical breakthroughs to technological advances to product and process improvements, invention is at the heart of a great society.
The Lemelson-MIT Program is dedicated to honoring the acclaimed and unsung heroes who have helped improve our lives through invention. We inspire and encourage great inventors through various outreach programs such as Lemelson-MIT InvenTeams, a non-competitive, team-based national grants initiative for high school students. The cornerstone of the Lemelson-MIT Program is a prestigious awards program that includes the $500,000 Lemelson-MIT Prize.
The Program was established in 1994 at the nation's premier technological university, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, by one of the world's most prolific inventors, Jerome Lemelson (1923-1997), and his wife, Dorothy. It is funded by the Lemelson Foundation and administered by MIT's School of Engineering. The Lemelson-MIT Program recognizes outstanding inventors, encourages sustainable new solutions to real-world problems, and enables and inspires young people to pursue creative lives and careers through invention.
The Lemelson Foundation celebrates and supports inventors and entrepreneurs in order to strengthen social and economic life. It uses its resources to recognize and celebrate accomplished inventors, to mentor young people and support their scientific curiosity and innovative spirit, and to research and disseminate information and technologies that enhance lives and elucidate the societal value of invention. To date the Foundation has donated or committed more than $110 million in support of its mission in the U.S. and developing countries.
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.
The awards include the following:
(*) The $500,000 Lemelson-MIT Prize honors outstanding mid-career inventors dedicated to improving our world through technological invention and innovation.
(*) The $100,000 Lemelson-MIT Award for Sustainability recognizes and supports inventors working to safeguard the well-being of our communities and planet.
(*) The $30,000 Lemelson-MIT Student Prize honors promising young inventors studying at MIT.
The Lemelson-MIT Collegiate Student Prize Program currently funds two additional student prizes to recognize students who demonstrate remarkable inventiveness: $30,000 Lemelson-MIT Rensselaer Student Prize at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the $30,000 Lemelson-MIT Illinois Student Prize at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Each student prize is administered by its respective school.
Lemelson-MIT InvenTeams are teams of high school students, teachers, and mentors that receive grants up to $10,000 each to invent technological solutions to real-world problems. InvenTeam grants support a non-competitive, team-based approach to foster inventiveness among high school students. The initiative evolved from the High School Invention Apprenticeship (1998 - 2002).
Bestowed annually, the Lemelson-MIT Awards were first presented in 1995. They are part of a comprehensive program administered by the Lemelson-MIT Program and established by the Lemelson Foundation to raise the stature of inventors and to inspire invention among young people. Find out about previous recipients at our Winners Circle.
The Lemelson-MIT Award for Sustainability has replaced the $100,000 Lemelson-MIT Lifetime Achievement Award, which was presented by the Lemelson-MIT Program from 1995-2006. The Lifetime Achievement Award recognized outstanding individuals whose pioneering spirit and inventiveness throughout their careers have improved our society and inspired others.
The Lemelson-MIT Program is dedicated to supporting and encouraging invention and innovation. In addition to the acclaimed awards, we inspire students and rising inventors through various outreach initiatives, including rich educational materials and innovative grants for high school students.