The National Inventors Hall of Fame released its list of finalists today for its annual Collegiate Inventors Competition. The finalists, both undergraduate and graduate students, come from universities across the country. Their inventions are all practical applications to aid urgent needs in the world. The finalist's inventions come from the fields of bio-medical engineering, medicine, and mechanical engineering, to name a few.

There are 12 teams of one to four people per team. The grand prize is $25,000, and the prizes of $15,000 will be awarded to the top finalists. In celebration of Global Entrepreneurship Week (Nov. 17 to Nov. 23), the awards ceremony and final judging will be on November 19.

"This year's finalists are immersed in innovative, important work," Jeffrey Dollinger, President of Invent Now, a subsidiary of the National Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation, said in a statement. "Once again, the Collegiate Inventors Competition has proven an effective showcase for the achievements of our nation's talented college students, and we're excited to follow their inventive work as they progress in their academic and professional careers."

The NIHFF received entries from over 2,000 campuses across the country. Each entry was judged on originality, process, and technology, in addition to its possible value and usefulness to society. The competition encourages college students to engage in science, math, engineering, technology and creative invention, and has been doing so since 1990. With the help of sponsors like the Abbott Fund and the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Collegiate Inventors Competition has awarded more than $1 million to almost 100 students.

So what are the inventions? Of the eight graduate-level and four undergraduate-level proposals, most deal strictly with the medical profession, such as Heejin Lee's drug delivery device for bladder disorders. But you'll probably be interested in three: Harvey Liu's "Smart Textiles for the Preservation of Tissues and Organs,", Patrick Delaney, Matthew Beckler, and Caleb Braff's "Solar-LED Lighting Innovation,", and Greg Schroll's "Spherical Vehicle with Flywheel Momentum Storage for High Torque Capabilities". None of the proposals list many details, unfortunately, but the concepts are woth checking out nevertheless. A list of all the finalists is here.

Updated 10/23/08