The Modern Marvels Invent Now(R) Challenge Names Top Invention of 2006

NEW YORK, May 25 /PRNewswire/ -- The History Channel(R) and Invent Now(R) Inc., a subsidiary of the National Inventors Hall of Fame(R) Foundation, announced today the eagerly awaited finalists and grand prize winner of the Modern Marvels Invent Now(R) Challenge, a national competition which began its search for America's next great inventor in October 2005. The Challenge, which is named in part for Modern Marvels(R), The History Channel's long- running signature series that showcases the nation's passion for ingenuity and innovation, named David R. Ward's Strawjet the 2006 Modern Marvel of the Year. The Strawjet is a breakthrough process in creating building material from straw, providing low-cost panels from an existing and untapped resource that will not only establish a new form of shelter but also preserve the environment. The competition also named Dr. David L. Cull (Hemoaccess Valve System), Kristin A. Hrabar (Illuminated Nutdriver), Dr. Sundaresan Jayaraman (Wearable Motherboard) and Robert C. Kelly (Resc-hue Lite Line) as finalists (see below for full profiles of the winner and four finalists).

The Strawjet and the four other finalists were chosen by the Challenge's panel of famed inventors and experts out of nearly 4,300 submissions from inventors ages 8 to 80 and representing all 50 states. The panel, which included experts such as Steve Wozniak, the inventor of the personal computer and co-founder of Apple, chose these four finalists and winner because of their potential to make a dramatic global impact and for being true modern marvels.

"The big ideas behind these inventions are mind boggling," said famed inventor, Steve Wozniak. "The Strawjet has the potential to revolutionize how we build in the less developed regions of the world by using one of our few remaining and endless resources -- straw."

The top five inventors of 2006 were revealed at an awards ceremony on May 24th at the site of the Challenge's interactive exhibit in Vanderbilt Hall, which is open to the public May 22-26th. The grand prize winner, David R. Ward, will receive a $25,000 grant, and his invention along with the inventions of the other four finalists will be featured during Modern Marvels(R): Great Inventions Week on The History Channel (May 24-27th) at 10 p.m. EST/9 p.m. CST, which will include premiere episodes on the inventions of Benjamin Franklin and '80s Tech among others.

"At the heart of this competition lies a deep desire to support today's everyday inventors whose breakthrough ideas are real-life modern marvels," said Judy Klein-Frimer, Co-Creator of the Challenge for The History Channel. "These finalists and grand prize winner were chosen because their inventions are going to make a significant global impact on the way we live, just like the inventors of our past who we profile on Modern Marvels."

"At the National Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation, our goal is to recognize and support inventors whose bright ideas have turned into the world's most influential breakthroughs," said Jeffrey Dollinger, President of the Invent Now, Inc. division of the Hall of Fame. "The Strawjet is a great advancement for the global construction industry, and I'm hopeful that it has the potential to perhaps be in our Hall of Fame one day."

The Modern Marvels Invent Now Challenge, which launched in the fall of 2005, announced its 25 semi-finalists in March 2006. After taking the inventions of the semi-finalists on the road in April and May to Los Angeles, Chicago and Boston, The History Channel, National Inventors Hall of Fame and TIME Magazine hosted all 25 semi-finalists in New York City for the grand prize winner announcement (May 24th) and a one-day invention seminar to help further develop their invention ideas (May 25th). The Challenge's traveling exhibit will remain on display in New York City at Grand Central Terminal through Friday, May 26th and culminate at the National Inventors Hall of Fame in Akron, OH where it will be on display through September 2006.

Viewers can catch the highly successful series, Modern Marvels, on The History Channel Wednesdays, starting at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CST. Log on to http://www.history.com/invent for more information on the 2006 Modern Marvel of the Year and the finalists and semi-finalists of the Modern Marvels Invent Now Challenge.

  Meet the Winner

  STRAWJET
  David R. Ward, Ashland, OR

Strawjet is a farm implement that processes straw from harvests, such as wheat, flax and sunflower, into a mat similar to a large bamboo window blind. This is used to construct composite building panels in much the same way as fiberglass or carbon fiber. However, the Strawjet uses paper pulp, clay and cement as the binder rather than plastic resin. The significance of this new technology is the universal availability of straw on a continuously renewable basis. Converting straw to a building material will save resources and provide farmers with additional income. Ward, an Oregon native who drew his inspiration from the devastation he witnessed first-hand in the Middle and Far East, wanted to create a building system that would be strong enough to withstand natural disasters, such as earthquakes, yet economical enough to revolutionize the rebuilding of the less developed regions.

  Meet the Finalists (Alphabetical Order)

  Hemoaccess Valve System
  Dr. David L. Cull, Surgeon, Greenville, SC

The Hemoaccess Valve System is a device that is able to regulate blood flow in arteriovenous (AV) grafts which are used to connect patients with kidney failure to a dialysis machine. It promises to reduce the devastating hemodynamic complications that are associated with AV grafts, and is the leading cause of in-patient hospitalization in patients on hemodialysis. The significance of this breakthrough is that for 40 years, pharmaceutical and graft companies have tried to reduce complications related to turbulent flow in AV grafts, and all attempts have failed. A solution to the problem has become "the holy grail" of hemodialysis. No one has approached the problem until now.

  Illuminated Nutdriver
  Kristin A. Hrabar, Retail, Aberdeen, NJ

The Illuminated Nutdriver is a new nutdriver hand tool that uses two forms of light to assist the user in dark places, avoiding the need to hold both the tool and a flashlight at the same time. Two LCD lamps are used to surround the outside of the tool to light the work area while a laser lamp sends light straight through the center of the fully hollow nutdriver shafts. The Illuminated Nutdriver uses a composite material for the tool shafts, making the tool safe for use around live electricity and computers. While the nutdriver hand tool has been around for a long time, using the two lights sources inside the tool's handle and using composite material for the tool shafts make this a totally new tool.

  Wearable Motherboard (Smart Shirt)
  Dr. Sundaresan Jayaraman, Professor, Atlanta, GA

The Wearable Motherboard (or Smart Shirt) is a flexible, wearable and comfortable garment with imbedded sensors for unobtrusively monitoring a variety of medical vital signs including heart rate, respiration rate, electrocardiogram (ECG), body temperature, and pulse oximetry (SpO2). The various sensors plug directly into the sensor suites built into the garment. The Wearable Motherboard represents a convergence of advanced textile, sensor and wireless technologies. The Smart Shirt, for the first time, provides an "unobtrusive" way of monitoring the vital signs of humans thus opening up new frontiers in healthcare, public safety, personalized mobile information processing, etc. The concept of a "wearable motherboard" into which desired sensor suites can be plugged in is a technological breakthrough along with the technology for "weaving" a seamless garment on a loom.

  Resc-hue Lite Line
  Robert C. Kelly, Firefighter Captain, Burlingame, CA

The Resc-hue Lite Line is a battery operated durable, waterproof and fire resistant flexible light used as a "safety line" by anyone wishing for illuminated guidance in a low light environment. Based on electroluminescence principals, the light line gives 360 degree illumination and supports up to 10,000 pounds. The Resc-hue Lite Line has multiple applications, including providing lighted guidance to firefighters finding their way out of a burning building, lighting the path for campers or underwater divers and providing guidance during military operations and rescue missions. The significance of this invention is that it can bring calm and reassurance in turbulent situations, such as a collapsed building filled with smoke and darkness. The light can also send sound and communication, and even tell rescuers if something has gone wrong behind them.

About The History Channel

The History Channel(R) is one of the leading cable television networks featuring compelling original, non-fiction specials and series that bring history to life in a powerful and entertaining manner across multiple platforms. The network provides an inviting place where people experience history in new and exciting ways enabling them to connect their lives today to the great lives and events of the past that provide a blueprint for the future. The History Channel has earned six News and Documentary Emmy(R) Awards and received the prestigious Governor's Award from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for the network's Save Our History(R) campaign dedicated to historic preservation and history education. The History Channel reaches more than 89 million Nielsen subscribers. The website is located at http://www.history.com/ .

About the National Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation

The not-for-profit National Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation is the premier organization in America dedicated to honoring and fostering creativity and invention. Each year a new class of inventors is inducted into the Hall of Fame in recognition of their patented inventions that make human, social, and economic progress possible. Founded in 1973 by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the National Council of Intellectual Property Law Associations, the Hall's permanent home is Akron, Ohio, where the inventors in the Hall are honored and from where it administers its national programs and subsidiaries, including Camp Invention(R), Club Invention(R), the Collegiate Inventors Competition(R), Invent Now(R)Inc., and Inventive Education(R), Inc.

About TIME Magazine

TIME Magazine has joined The History Channel and the National Inventors Hall of Fame as the media partner for the Modern Marvels Invent Now Challenge. TIME, the flagship magazine of Time Inc., is the world's largest newsmagazine, with a worldwide circulation of 5.2 million and an audience of 29 million readers in 180+ countries. TIME pioneered the newsmagazine concept when it was founded in 1923. Today, TIME remains the world leader as the largest and most successful newsmagazine renowned for its journalistic excellence and innovation.

Additional Partners

The United States Patent and Trademark Office is also supporting the Challenge. Additional partners include the American Society of Civil Engineers, DeLorme Publishing, Inc., Intellectual Property Owners Association and the Licensing Executives Society.