Young Local Inventors Win State Competition

Capitola, Soquel and Aptos are sending students to the National Invention Convention and Entrepreneurship Expo at the Henry Ford Museum in May after their inventions won at the California Invention Convention.

The winners are:

• 6th grader Gabriella Gonzalez from Soquel for “Fur Mamma Simulator”
• 5th grader Ayden Maguire from Capitola for”Ezuick Escapex”
• 6th grader Eila Nelson from Aptos for “Reach a Sink”

The statewide competition took place on Saturday, April 13. The event’s premier sponsor, Maxim Integrated Products Inc., hosted the event at their headquarters in San Jose. About 200 students participated at the California Invention Convention, having advanced from regional competitions.

“California is full of talented and bright young learners, and this celebration of invention gives students the opportunity to share what they have created,” said Brenda Payne, coordinator of the California Invention Convention. “This competition gets students involved in authentic, project-based learning while demonstrating creativity, collaboration, communication and critical thinking — all important 21st century skills.”

Maxim has been a partner of the California program for the past two years. “Through our collaboration with the California Invention Convention, we look forward to a generation of engineers that embrace teamwork, thinking outside the box and innovative problem-solving,” said Dave Dwelley, chief technology officer at Maxim Integrated.

This year, over 3,000 students and over 140 educators participated in conventions throughout California, sending their finalists onto the state competition.

“Now more than ever, we need to prepare students to be creative problem-solvers,” said Payne, who began the program in a small Northern California school and now heads the statewide organization. “In fact, we have a duty to encourage our students to think differently.”

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The goals of the California Invention Convention:

• Bring STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) invention education to K-12 students throughout California
• Provide opportunities for students to be recognized and valued for their inventions through regional and state invention conventions
• Include all qualified student invention programs as part of a statewide California Invention Convention program.

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For more information: www.cainventionconvention.org