From Medical Wonders to Glowing Tennis Balls, NYU-Poly Student Inventions are Put to the Test This Week

NEW YORK, March 3 /PRNewswire/ -- A quick, inexpensive check for foot-and-mouth disease. A low-cost solar cell that operates in low light and can be applied to any shape. A printer that recycles office paper on the spot.  A ball so bright that stadiums can dim the lights at night.  A brain-controlled chair that gives paralyzed people mobility. And sophisticated sensors that allow people with peripheral neuropathy to walk and even drive.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20091027/NY99197LOGO )

This Thursday, March 4, 2010, six teams of students at Polytechnic Institute of New York University will attempt to convince a blue ribbon panel of judges that their invention or innovation will change the world.  The challenge is the 2009-2010 Time Warner Cable Inno/Vention Competition.

The six finalists – created by 12 graduate and undergraduate students – are not simply brilliant technical solutions: In keeping with the school's academic philosophy of i-squared-e – invention, innovation and entrepreneurship – each was subjected to rigorous business analysis that every great idea requires to quickly bridge the gap between technology and the marketplace.

Student participants have labored since October to develop "the next big thing" in science and engineering. They attended workshops on patent searches, market research and how to present to potential investors.  They also received one-on-one business coaching.

The diversity of NYU-Poly's student body was reflected in the home countries of the finalists: Belgium, China, France, Israel and the United States.

The panel of industry and academic judges will consider the commercial viability of their ideas and how their proposals will impact society.  Winners will be announced at an awards ceremony this Friday, March 5, and three cash prizes will be given away.

"Our students are eager to create a better world, and experiences such as this give them the educational platform on which to build strong futures for themselves and society," said NYU-Poly President Jerry M. Hultin.  "This competition provides rigorous academic education but, equally important, it inspires our students to pursue market-smart technical inventions and innovations. Events such as the Time Warner Cable Inno/Vention Competition are at the core of our i-squared-e educational philosophy."

"The Time Warner Cable Inno/Vention Competition gives student inventors, innovators and entrepreneurs the tools to refine their ideas into marketable products and services," said Jim Braun, senior vice president, product management, of Time Warner Cable. "They will enter the job force as the kind of employees that technology-driven firms like ours need."

For more information on the competition, visit http://www.poly.edu/InnoVention.

About Polytechnic Institute of New York University

Polytechnic Institute of New York University (formerly Polytechnic University), an affiliate of New York University, is one of New York City's most comprehensive schools of engineering, applied sciences, technology, and research, and is rooted in a 156-year tradition of invention, innovation, and entrepreneurship: i-squared-e.

The institution, founded in 1854, is one of the nation's oldest private engineering schools. In addition to its main campus at MetroTech Center in downtown Brooklyn, it offers programs at sites throughout the region and around the globe. NYU-Poly has centers in Long Island, Manhattan and Westchester County; globally, it has programs in Israel, China and will be an integral part of NYU's campus in Abu Dhabi opening in autumn 2010.

For more information, visit www.poly.edu.

SOURCE Polytechnic Institute of New York University