Inventioneers Help Nurture Young Engineers at Academy

Right to left:  Inventioneers Bryeton Evarts and Jaiden Evarts (in yellow shirts), and TJ Evarts (black shirt) demonstrate LEGO robots to students at Southern NH Montessori Academy at the "Snack Attack" Jr. FLL Exhibition in December

We were excited to be invited to demonstrate our FIRST LEGO League robot to aspiring young engineers at the "Snack Attack" Jr. FLL Exhibition at Londonderry's Southern NH Montessori Academy (SNHMA).  Londonderry's high school robotics team, the PVC Pirates, conducted a 15 week course introducing students to mechanized LEGO machines and the science of nutrition.  Students showed off their models and research at the exhibition held on December 21.  The Inventioneers Jaiden, Bryeton, and TJ Evarts

Inventioneers Invited to Exhibit at FIRST at First Night, Boston

Two years ago, we hosted a great exhibit as part of Boston's First Night celebration.  We are excited to be invited back by Mr. Steve Cremer, FIRST's Regional Director for MA and NH, who coordinates the robotics demonstrations.   We're expecting thousands of First Night celebrators to learn about FIRST programs, many for the very first time.  We're proud to be exhibiting along with Londonderry's PVC Pirates FRC (FIRST Robotics Competition) team.

Here's a look at the crowds form First Night 2009!

We'll post photos and

Merry Christmas from the Inventioneers

Inventioneers on NH Chronicle - Again!

On Monday, December 12, the Inventioneers' story was featured on ABC affiliate WMUR's NH Chronicle.  We are thankful for the chance to help kids learn about inventing and to share our patent experiences.

Also, it is another chance to

Check Out the New Post at Inventioneers Patent Scholarship Website:

Click image above to learn more about patenting your idea!

Inventioneers Launch Patent Website!

Click image above to check out our website!

Check out our new

Inventioneers Catch Up with Friends at NH Tournament

As we went through the pits sharing our Inventioneers Patent Scholarship flyers at the NH State FLL Tournament today, we were happy to see so many friends among the qualifying teams.  We realized that we have been personally involved with about 10 of the teams that were competing at the state level this year.  We love the excitement of competition day.

Submit Your NH Patent Scholarship Entry Here:

2012 Application Deadline has passed - check back soon to apply for the 2013 scholarship!

Congratulations to another Champion's Award winner!

Cheers go out to the Wisdom Seekers of Nashua, NH for their Champion's Award win at Bishop Guertin's qualifying tournament.  We have worked with them since they started their team back in August of 2010!  We are so happy that we have been able to support them and to share our insider tips! (Of course, we are happy to share our best advice with all FLL teams, just contact us!)

Wisdom Seekers were among the graduates of The Inventioneers Team Training Institute in September 2010

Another Award for Inventioneers Friends

Congratulations to the Lego Lords of Derry, NH for their Champion's Award win at the Daniel Webster College tournament on November 19th!  We've known the Lego Lords since they formed their team in 2008 and have been happy to mentor them along the way.  We and our coach met with them most recently at the PVC Pirates FRC team's RoboExpo last month (see photo below)!

Half the Lego Lords with half the Inventioneers!

They're on to the BAE NH State Championship Tournament on December 3rd.  Awesome!

Are You Inventive?

Do you have one?  You could be our next big winner!

Stay tuned for more!

What's Going On Here?

That's Intellectual Property Attorney Vern Maine with us and the winners of the Inventioneers Big Idea Patent Scholarship 2010, the Lego Mind Freaks!

Help Wanted: SMARTwheel™

Check out our SMARTwheel™ blog to read this New York Times article about the limitations of texting laws.  Click on the image below

Congrats to Holy Cow

Three cheers for Holy Cow from Concord, NH for their 2nd Place Champion's Award from the Bishop Brady FLL qualifying tournament today.

We are especially excited because this is a team we have worked with closely and have mentored. They took the 2nd Place Research Award at the State Tournament last year and we expect great things from them at this year's NH event! Here's a photo of the Inventioneers and Holy Cow at their headquarters just before the state tournament last year!

NY Times Article Includes Inventioneers Nov. 6

The article highlights the accomplishments of middle to high schoolers - the college experience needs enriching now!

Links: Photo

Friends Around the Globe

This map gives you an idea of how the Inventioneers are reaching teams from around the world!

(Click map to enlarge image)

More From the PVC Pirates' RoboExpo

The Pheasant Lane Mall in Nashua was host to the first annual RoboExpo which was an exhibition of three FIRST programs - FRC, FTC, and FLL. Kudos to all the teams who demonstrated their robots, passed out FIRST literature to the crowds and recruited new students, mentors, and coaches to these great programs. Here's a photo of (from left to right) Team Unlimited (FTC), Holy Cow (FLL), Lego Lords (FLL), the Inventioneers (FLL), and the PVC Pirates (FRC). (More photos from the day's events coming.)

Inventioneers Applaud PVC Pirates' RoboExpo

What a great day at the RoboExpo! Thousands of people saw FIRST program robots in action. Thanks to the FLL teams that participated with the Inventioneers - Holy Cow (white shirts), Lego Lords (green shirts), and the Wisdom Seekers (not pictured). We're in safety yellow except TJ (in black) who captain of the team that created this successful event, the PVC Pirates.

2011 FLL Event Schedule

For those of you who met us at the RoboExpo today, here's the schedule of tournaments happening in NH for 2011. Remember, if you need any help getting started for 2012, email us at TheInventioneers@yahoo.com.

Click here for large print version.

Watch The Inventioneers FLL Project Video !

Over the last eight years, we've mentored hundreds of teams teams in person, through email, by phone and Skype. The one frustration shared by new teams has been uncertainty about how to approach the Project. How do we get started? What does a Project Presentation look like? And more. We know having guidance in those areas

Inventioneers to Appear at First Ever RoboExpo

Come down to the Pheasant Lane Mall in Nashua on Saturday October 15th to see FIRST teams and their robots in head to head competition as well as robot demonstrations. The event is the brainchild of the PVC Pirates FRC team from Londonderry and will include FLL, FTC, and FRC teams from around New England - including us! Come by between 11 am and 5 pm to get in on the action!

Inventioneers Make USA Today - again!

USA Today article from October 1, 2011. The SMARTwheel is still going strong! Also, a link to a former USA Today article with an Inventioneers' interview. Click here for link.

STOW-or-GO Table Tips

So many teams are using our STOW-or-GO Table design that we are compiling all our best tips in a newsletter. We'll be sending it out to everyone in our email list. If you would like a copy, email us with a request at TheInventioneers@yahoo.com.

Check out the ABCs of FLL in DC

Inventioneers Pass ABCs of FLL Torch in DC

We are excited to announce that the ABCs of FLL workshop we conducted in DC last September is going full force again this year. We are happy to pass the torch to Denise Lewis of DC FIRST - she has almost 90 people signed up for the ABCs of FLL and will be using the materials we developed for her last year. Go DC!!

More Summer Camp Press

Our Inventor's Camp, in partnership with SNHMA's Camp DaVinci program, is highlighted on LondonderryNH.net!

Link:
http://www.londonderrynh.net/2011/08/inventioneers-work-with-local-youth-academy/40990

Inventioneers Team Up with Montessori Academy

Londonderry, NH - The Inventioneers, Londonderry’s own FIRST LEGO League (FLL) Champions, have joined forces this summer with the Southern NH Montessori Academy (SNHMA). The global award winning team is teaching three summer camp sessions all with a LEGO theme as part of SNHMA’s Camp DaVinci program. In June, the week-long camp was called Intro to LEGO Robotics and focused on robot building techniques and mechanics. Week two, held earlier this month, honed in on LEGO simple machines and vehicles. Week three, Young Inventors, to be held August 8-12 , will teach campers how to bring their own inventions from ideas on paper to working LEGO models.

Inventor's Digest Features the Inventioneers

Take a look at our two-page spread in this month's issue of Inventor's Digest!


Click here for pdf version.

Inventioneers Featured in Inventor's Digest !!!

Link coming soon!
The SMARTwheel™ and the Inventioneers are in the June edition of Inventor's Digest! More details to come.

Inventioneers Make Popular Mechanics Debut

(click image above to see the story!)

TJ Interviewed by WMUR for FIRST Robotics Competition

Click Image Above for Story and Video on WMUR TV

In CNBC.com - Again!

The Inventioneers SMARTwheel made it to CNBC.com for the second time this month! Read about us here:

Click here for the article in its entirety.

Inventioneers Meet Top Distracted Driving Researcher

We met with University of Utah researcher, Dr. David Strayer, at the NH Traffic Safety Conference. He tried out our SMARTwheel and liked the concept. We look forward to working with him and we may have a trip to Utah in our future!

Inventioneers World Festival Tips

Inventioneers World Festival Tip #3
Shine on Your Own

Keep your coaches at arms length. It’s more important than ever to show the judges that your team did the work, not the coaches. If you need to make some hardware or software adjustments between rounds, make those changes as a team. Consult your coach for general guidance but by now you should be confident enough for your team to make the changes.



Even though "We do the work. . ." is a top FLL Core Value, we have seen many coaches overly involved at the World Festival level. It is disappointing for teams like ours and yours to see teams where the philosophy is win at all costs - even if the kids have to stand back and let their coach call the shots. The judges see

CNBC.com Article Makes International Websites

SMARTwheel Article Makes Yahoo Front Page

We've all seen Yahoo's daily slideshow of interesting news articles on their home page. How surprised were we to see the Inventions by Kids article pop up! We're amazed! Click image below for story.

Inventioneers Make National News on CNBC.com

We're always excited about national coverage of our SMARTwheel! Our invention was chosen for a national article about "Inventions by Kids" and is at the top of the list! The latest news on our patent journey is that we filed for our Utility Patent on the SMARTwheel in December 2010 and are hoping to be awarded the final patent in the next couple of years! Click the image to read the whole story!

CNBC.com Article All Over the Web

EBuddy Press.com
Inventions Frontier.com
Sales Articles.com
Great2Watch.com
K Cube.com
Articles Right Now.com
The Tehran Times International Daily

"Acclaimed" Inventioneers on RITA Webiste

Inventioneers Top Tips for the World Festival

Inventioneers World Festival Top Tip #2

Get Up Close and Personal

Even though you should think three times before incorporation loud shouting, music, singing, etc. into any of your judging presentations, by the same token, make sure your talking parts are loud enough for judges to hear. Typically judging rooms have high ceilings and are separated by curtains or other temporary partitions. It's hard for kids voices to overcome these, combined with the voices coming from neighboring judging sessions.

As we said in Tip #1- get as close as you can to the judges' table. Of course, if you need space to act out any part of your presentation, back up some but for your important points, get close! The judges will appreciate it. It is frustration for them to miss part of your key information because they couldn't hear/understand you. Practice

Inventioneers Share Top Tips for the FLL World Festival

We know that there are many teams heading to the FLL World Festival for the first time. We thought this would be a good time to share our top tips for success in this event. We are the first FLL World Champion team to share great ideas for helping teams have a successful World Festival experience. So without further adieu -

World Festival Tip #1

Don't Drown Out the Competition

If your research presentation involves loud effects, singing, chanting, or yelling, try to tone it down. Teams are usually separated by just a curtain during judging. Remember, the team in the adjacent area only has one opportunity to make its presentation, too, and a loud presentation in the next door can make it impossible for judges to hear what teams are saying.

Being drowned out by another team during World Festival judging has happened to us - more than once. Get

Inventioneers Make a Splash at Lifesaver's Conference

Two of us, (TJ and Paige), were invited to speak at the prestigious Lifesaver's National Transportation Safety Conference. We flew out to Phoenix AZ and made our presentation on Sunday. It was a great honor to join the top transportation safety experts in the country to present the latest ideas for improving road and driver safety.

With "Engaging the Learning Styles of Youth" as the title of our workshop, we spoke about FIRST and FLL, which got us started fighting distracted driving, our SMARTwheel, including a demonstration of our ninth generation prototype, and our Don't DUIT student education program. Our session was well attended with about 100 in the audience. We incorporated power point slides, video, animation, and audience participation in our workshop, along with a generous dose of humor. People were amazed to learn we have already met the top transportation officials in the country. Workshop attendees spoke with us after our presentation and applauded our strategies to make new drivers the safest drivers on the road. We also rolled out our new Don't DUIT Tag Game, which was a great hit. Check it out at http://www.dont-duit.org/.

Volpe National Transportation System Center Visit

http://www.volpe.dot.gov/noteworthy/index.html#aivtvc

Smart Planet Promotes the SMARTwheel

Click Image for Story

Inventioneers LIVE on FOX 25 Boston

Go to full screen video:  An invention to solve distracted driving: MyFoxBOSTON.com

Great Story on FOX 25!

Local teens' invention aimed at distracted driving: MyFoxBOSTON.com

Inventioneers on FOX 25 News!

Watch FOX 25 Boston News tonight at 10:00 p.m. to see the Inventioneers SMARTwheel story! Jon Dudas, President of FIRST is also featured!

Then check us out live from the FOX 25 studio Thursday, March 17 at 8:35 a.m. for more!!

Inventioneers in the News-FOX25 News, That is!

Hi all,

We had the tremendous honor of being part of a FOX 25 Boston news feature which was taped this past Thursday at FIRST in Manchester. We shared how FIRST and FIRST LEGO League have changed our lives and we outlined our experiences with inventing, patents and our latest patent-pending invention, the SMARTwheel. It was a great education for us and it was FUN!

We'll send out an email blast when we know when the piece will air!

Team Member Nominated for FIRST Dean's List

Hooray for TJ Evarts, our founding member of the Inventioneers for his nomination for the FIRST Dean's List. His selection was announced at the BAE Systems/Granite State Regional FIRST Robotics Tournament at the Verizon Center in Manchester on Saturday. TJ has devoted thousands of hours to promoting FIRST programs since he got started in FLL and then added FRC last year. He is part of Londonderry's high school robotics team, the PVC Pirates and was nominated by the team mentors for consideration for the FIRST Dean's List Award. The finalists will be announced at the World Championship in St. Louis in April.

For all his work with FLL training, rookie teams, curriculum development and Jr. FLL coaching and more, we say Congratulations!!!

Inventioneers Visit Pentagon

While we were in DC in January, we took a tour of the Pentagon. There were lots of interesting displays but not much time to take it all in. There was a hushed, respectful memorial room where Flight 77 crashed, honoring those who died. There was a journal where we left a message of sadness and respect. Outside, there was a memorial garden but with freezing temperatures and bitter winds, we didn't go out to see it.

No photos were allowed of the building (the one here is a stock photo) or along the tour route. Our knowledgeable guide gave us the entire tour walking backwards - a feat he accomplished easily and a technique we soon got used to. We were able to take photos only at the official press area.