LONGVIEW, Texas, Feb. 12, 2001 (PRIMEZONE) -- When the 2001 LeTourneau University Invention and Design Contest, presented by Sprint PCS, opens next week it will not only contain gizmos, gadgets and thingamajigs; it will also carry a new title: "The Largest Invention Contest in the United States."
Propelled by a record of almost 500 invention entries, the event has moved into first place as the largest national invention contest in America, according to Dr. Ed Sobey, a Seattle-based invention contest author and a columnist for the popular invention website, Patentcafe.com.
Already one of the larger contests in the nation, the 493 entries in this year's contest represents a growth of 45 percent over last year's 340 entries, which was also a record. Since 1986, the contest has featured more than 2,500 inventions. Sobey, who is the author of Inventing Stuff and How to Enter and Win an Invention Contest, calls the LeTourneau contest "a whopper indeed." He notes that although other organizations have had larger contests in the past -- at one time Duracell Batteries sponsored a contest that drew 800 entries -- it appears that the Longview event will be the largest invention event in the nation during 2001.
The contest features inventions created by school children from around the East Texas area, along with adult entries from across the U.S. A new Website Design Contest, sponsored by Forex Software and introduced for the first time in 2001, has drawn an additional 34 entries from around the world, including website designs from Brazil, Romania, and Taiwan, among others.
Inventors and designers will compete for a total of $3,300 in cash and prizes. All inventions will be on exhibition beginning Tuesday, Feb. 20 and continuing through Thursday, Feb. 22. The Invention Exhibition is free and will be held in the Solheim Recreation & Activity Center on the LeTourneau campus, 2100 S. Mobberly Ave., Longview. The exhibition will be open from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday, Feb. 20-21, and from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 22. For information and directions call (903) 233-3672.
Winners will be announced at an Awards Ceremony at 4:00 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 22.
The annual event, now in its 16th year, honors the creative genius of LeTourneau University founder R. G. LeTourneau, an inventor, engineer, entrepreneur and philanthropist. LeTourneau (1888-1969) was granted over 300 U.S. patents, and was the creator of the bulldozer, the mobile offshore drilling platform and hundreds of designs dealing with earthmoving and construction.
The Invention Contest is presented by Sprint PCS, and sponsored and judged by the Presidents' Advisory Council, a group of business and community leaders who work closely with the university's administration.
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CONTACT: LeTourneau University Invention and Design Contest
Bill Gibbs, Contest Director
(903) 233-3675
billgibbs@letu.edu
www.letu.edu/news/invention-2001