The National Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation today announced that a new method of combating antibiotic-resistant bacteria has won the grand prize at the 2008 Collegiate Inventors Competition. Timothy Lu of Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts Institute of Technology received the $25,000 prize during a ceremony last night at the Kauffman Foundation in Kansas City as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week.

In addition to the grand prize, awards were also given for the top graduate and undergraduate student inventions. This year’s winners include graduate student Paul Podsiadlo of The University of Michigan for his Ultra Strong and Stiff, Optically Transparent Plastic Nanocomposite and Greg Schroll of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who created a new spherical robot with potential to drastically advance safety and technology. These winning teams each received a $15,000 prize from the competition, which is sponsored by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the Abbott Fund, the philanthropic foundation of the global health care company Abbott.

“This year’s winning inventions and their potential applications are ideal examples of the importance that science and technology play in our society,” said Jeffrey Dollinger, President of Invent Now, Inc., a subsidiary of the National Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation. “The Collegiate Inventors Competition is a testament to the innovative work that college students are performing all across the country.”

Source: PRNewswire