Open Minds 2012



Open Minds 2012 Teams Selected

NCIIA is pleased to announce that the following fourteen teams have been selected to showcase their cutting edge tech innovations at Open Minds, Thursday, March 22 thru Friday, March 23 in San Francisco. The exhibition on Thursday, March 22 is free and open to the public and will take place at The Hub, Bay Area from 7:00-9:00pm.

The Open Minds video competition will begin on Friday, February 24. Public viewing and voting on videos will open thru Monday, March 12.

  • Brilliance
    Stanford University
    A low cost, low maintenance opto-medical device that uses high intensity LEDs for the treatment of jaundice
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  • GiraDora and Balde a Balde
    Art Center College of Design
    A portable faucet that provides running water from any container, and a human-powered washer and spin dryer to increase the efficiency and improve the experience of hand-washing clothes
    Learn more
  • IntelliWheels, INC.
    University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
    After-market additions to off-the-shelf wheelchairs that decreases the effort it takes to propel them
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  • GRIT Leveraged Freedom Chair
    Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    A lever-powered mobility aid designed for the use in developing countries
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  • Medtric Biotech, LLC
    Purdue University
    Developing an innovative, environmentally friendly anti-infection technology
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  • The Integrated Punch Biopsy
    Johns Hopkins University
    An all-in-one skin biopsy device that efficiently and safely transects and retrieves the skin sample
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  • Strong Arm Ergonomic Lifting Safety System
    Rochester Institute of Technology
    A form-fitting garment that incorporates a unique system of load-bearing straps that allows workers to lift heavy objects more easily and with significantly less risk of injury
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  • Inserogen
    University of California, Davis
    Developing SwiftVax, a plant-based production platform that produces animal and human vaccines efficiently and affordably
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  • MetCel
    Oklahoma State University
    Developing a Hybrid Composite Armor stand-alone insert that is capable of significantly reducing Behind Armor Blunt Trauma (BABT)
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  • NextDrop
    University of California, Berkeley
    Leveraging the recent proliferation of mobile phones in India to provide households with accurate and timely information about when piped water will become available in their area
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  • Cal Poly Civil Engineering Students
    California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
    Developing earthquake-resistant,inexpensive interlocking compressed earth block (ICEB) construction
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  • Miret Surgical
    Stanford University
    A modular, minimally invasive surgical system
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  • Project Agrow
    IIT Bombay
    Developing a low cost, manually operated machine that enables de-cortication and de-husking of raw peanuts to deliver clean peanut kernels
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  • The Harker Innovation Team
    A Lemelson-MIT InvenTeam
    A high school student team developing an Aquatic Thermoelectric Generator to produce energy from heat
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About Open Minds

Open Minds is the acclaimed annual exhibition of cutting-edge innovation from NCIIA's best student teams. The exhibition takes place each year during NCIIA's annual conference, and is an opportunity for student teams to demonstrate their products and companies, and receive local and national media coverage. 10-15 teams are selected to participate in this high profile event, which involves an evening exhibition for NCIIA conference attendees as well as an exhibition open to the general public and an exciting video competition.

We are thrilled to once again partner with Inventors Digest for the 2012 Open Minds exhibition, which will be held in San Francisco, March 22-23.


Open Minds 2012 Schedule

  • February 24 - March 12: Public video competition.
  • March 22: Exhibition at The Hub, Bay Area, open to Hub members, investors, and the general public.
  • March 23: Evening exhibition at the Exploratorium, open to NCIIA conference attendees and special guests.
    *Winners of the video competition will be announced on March 22 during the exhibition at The Hub, Bay Area*

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Interested in showcasing at Open Minds 2013? Check out the guidelines.

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