Tong Prototype Prize Home 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003
Innovation Days logo gold

What participants say

Hoopla Rack

Hoopla Rack,
third place and $4,000,
2008 Schoofs Prize for Creativity;
third place and $700,
Tong Prototype Prize;
and Younkle Best Presentation Award

“Through the whole process, I actually began to see my design turn into a prototype, and now my prototype might actually become a patented reality. By the end, I was so happy that I had chosen to take a chance on myself and do something that brought my engineering and hooping life together.”

—Danielle McIntosh

Pen Smart

Pen Smart,
$1,000 Judges’ Award for Special Merit,
2008 Schoofs Prize for Creativity

“I thought of this product two years ago—I wrote it down and kind of forgot about it for awhile. And I realized that if I didn’t do it, I’d always regret it, so I just decided to pursue it. The competition is a great outlet for anyone interested in innovation and development. The experience gives you the tools to develop the idea and the confidence to continue.”

—Daniel Gartenberg

« previous page     next page »

Tong Prototype Prize 2007

SwingGuard

SwingGuard (large image)
SwingGuard

SwingGuard: A remotely controlled device that cleans rain gutters or eaves from ground level

“If you send a lot of time doing design, if you like it, nothing is too difficult. Being able to design something and have it be worthwhile to present is great — plus, there’s always the cash award. I am a college student, so I can’t deny that. I learned that starting from scratch and designing something is very hard. It takes a lot of time and energy to do. Dreaming up something is easy, drawing it on paper or in CAD is easy. Once you’re there with the pliers trying to bend this piece of metal into shape, that takes time and energy. But I don’t think I’d rather spend my time doing anything else. This has been a great experience.”
— Bingyi Yu

Innovator: Bingyi Yu



Back to page topEnd of page