The Lemelson Foundation

How do we ensure that climate solutions create shared prosperity?

That’s the question that Lemelson Program Officer Kory Murphy asks in his recent blog, “Oregon’s Big Bet on Climate Innovation.”

💡 His answer: a focus not just on technology, but on the people and communities that power innovation.

That’s the message behind the Oregon Climate Innovation Ecosystem (OCIE), a new community-driven initiative to build a more equitable innovation ecosystem — and support bold climate solutions that Oregon’s entrepreneurs are already working on.

🌱 Read more of Kory’s perspective and about OCIE here: https://www.lemelson.org/oregons-big-bet-on-climate-innovation/

Kory will also be bringing this message to PNW Climate Week at an event with Prosper Portland about “Climate Innovation at Work” on July 16th.

🌱 Register for the event here: https://luma.com/hqaluezz

Bravo to all of the students who participated in the special 10th annual Invent Oregon (Inventor) finals! Lemelson Foundation Program Officer Katie Krummeck was there to help InventOR mark a decade of innovation in action in Oregon, and experience what’s coming next.

The teams’ inventions represented creativity, entrepreneurial spirit, and practical real-world solutions — including adaptive physical therapy tools, a boot-mounted sensor for ski/snowboard inversion accidents, and a smart heated mirror to prevent dentists' lens from fogging, just to name a few.
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Congrats to each of the awardees:
🥇 1st place: PNW Assistive Technology
🥈 2nd place: Cascade Safety Solutions
🥉 3rd place: Luma Dental Technology
🏅4th place: DEC VAC
📚 Best Community College: Swift Lock
🌟 Visionary Award: Spotzhole
💡 People's Choice Award: The Final Rose
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The Lemelson Foundation helped launch InventOR as an annual invention competition with Portland State University Center for Entrepreneurship. Former Lemelson Foundation Program Officer Rachel Jagoda Brunette was there as a keynote speaker, along with former Director of the PSU Center for Entrepreneurship Juan Barraza to talk about the program’s origins and growth, and to commemorate this milestone year.

InventOR offers grants for teams of higher ed students to turn their potential solutions to real-world challenges into real-life prototypes — and also provides mentorship, workshops, and additional funding to support their invention journey.
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Visit https://www.lemelson.org/invent-or/ to learn more about Invent Oregon.
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Regional Accelerator & Innovation Network Latino Founders

“Never in my parents’ mind would they have thought their daughter would be an inventor and get a U.S. patent,” says recent college graduate Katia Avila Pinedo.

🍎 ICYMI: Our latest Invention Notebook article features Katia, whose invention education journey as a California high school student inspired her to become an engineer and now a teacher.

As a member of her school’s InvenTeam, she helped design Heart & Sole, a device to help monitor foot health at home for people living with diabetes. Their invention later received a U.S. patent, and Katia went on to pursue invention education roles that would help her give back to her community.

📚 Read more about Katia’s experiences and the story behind their Heart & Sole invention here: https://www.lemelson.org/katia-avila-pinedo-invention-education/

Lemelson-MIT Program

Invention education channels the methods and practices used by inventors to help teach young people how to identify and solve problems.

At The Lemelson Foundation, we believe these skills should be a part of every child’s school experience — which is why researching the impact of invention education on K-12 is so important.

Our InventEd Network initiative has released a new white paper focused on six years of research about the field and how it’s shaping the future of learning and innovation.

Some of the topics that the paper explores include:

💡 Invention pathways for students
💡 How to develop inventive mindsets and inventive identities
💡 Community engagement and ecosystem development

🔗 Learn more about the growing invention education field and access the white paper here: https://inventioneducation.org/researching-invention-education-2019-2025/