by Suhani Dalela, Georgia Institute of Technology
I, Suhani Dalela, am privileged enough to call myself an inventor — an inventor of a mobility assistant for elders, a problem solver for the cardboard shipping box waste crisis and an innovator who has worked to increase the stability of canes for blind people.
I grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan, close to the Henry Ford Museum, the home of the Invention Convention. Participating made me see myself in a new way. Though the word “inventor” feels heavy, all it took for me to realize that I could also be an inventor was to see the simplicity of projects while participating in the Invention Convention.
I don’t say this to discount the hard work that competitors at Invention Convention put into their projects, or the seriousness of the problems they are trying to solve. On the contrary, what Invention Convention values is the hard work put into the process that results in a beautiful, simple, user-friendly invention — the best kind.
Author with her mother. Photo courtesy of the author
At the RTX Invention Convention US Nationals 2024, my role changed from an inventor to one of an investigator. As a student reporter, I dug into the process behind the amazing creations students brought to the museum. The first thing that stuck out to me was the passion students had when talking about the process behind their invention.
The motivation behind the long path to an innovation can truly come from anywhere, from oneself to loved ones to a heart wrenching story seen on TV. However, the closer that one’s story was to a student's heart, the more purpose they approached their project with, and the more excitement they spoke with. For example, an invention made for one’s grandma stood out significantly because of the connection to a loved one.
...what Invention Convention values is the hard work put into the process that results in a beautiful, simple, user-friendly invention — the best kind.
The other obvious pattern in the students I interviewed was how quickly and enthusiastically they picked up new skills and knowledge. The most surprising journeys were those students that were opposed to learning STEM and ended up finding a future path in it after going through the invention process.
These stories strengthened my belief (that is rooted in my experience) that project-based learning, such as learning a skill by creating an invention, results in the most in-depth and enjoyable learning. The teachers that I interviewed as a student reporter felt the same, stating that their teaching practices were more successful when following an innovation education pathway in their classrooms.
Author on stage at the National Invention Convention at the Henry Ford Museum. Photo courtesy of the author
All of the impacts of innovation education stem from one core experience —failure. When I was working on the Sitter Upper (a mobility device for elders), every stage I “failed” had me discover another aspect of the problem I could solve with my creation. Invention Convention educators and students push the idea of getting rid of the fear of failure, essentially making the competition a safe space for learning by emphasizing the process rather than the end product. My first invention prototype — an accupressure based energy booster made of styrofoam and cloth — wasn’t exactly ready for the market. However, the focus of the judges on the process rather than final product got me second place at Nationals.
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Invention education encourages interdisciplinary learning through presentation of the product, pitch videos and explanation of the technologies and sciences backing the product. By involving requirements such as creating product logos, product names and aesthetic poster boards/products as well as freedom in problem selection, programs such as Invention Convention transform STEM into STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics). Through this transformation, invention competitions gather diverse populations of competitors and bring together those who would have formerly been separated by a divide in interest.
Whether a student, educator, parent or a curious individual, invention education revolutionizes learning in a way no other learning pathways can. As an inventor, mentor for novice inventors and an invention education researcher, I have had experiences in Invention Convention that were unable to be duplicated anywhere else, and they have helped me grow as a person and a learner like nothing else.
Check out how your students can get involved in the Invention Convention here.
About the author
Suhani Dalela is a freshman at the Georgia Institute of Technology majoring in computer engineering. Over the last five years, she has won many awards at invention competitions, mentored students new to invention and completed invention education research.
Interested in being part of the Invention Education community? Write Vic at vpasquantonio@newshour.org to hear about NewsHour Classroom's opportunities to write and test out curriculum and fun Zooms where you get to meet real-life inventors and teachers who've been doing invention in their classroom!
See our free invention ed lesson collection here.
If you are a middle or high school student and would like to pitch a Student Voice article or video to NewsHour Classroom, contact vpasquantonio@newshour.org. Sign up for NewsHour Classroom’s ready-to-go Daily News Lessons here.
