University of Pennsylvania Students Vie For $5,000 Innovation Prize
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - At the University of Pennsylvania, the next generation of inventors and innovators gathered today for the finals of the annual student invention competetion, dubbed "PennVention."
Penn senior Jin Ser (above) was laying out his case for why his team should be awarded the top prize at this year's contest. They developed a prototype for a product called Translate Abroad.
"Translate Abroad is a mobile app that will allow any user to take a photo of any street sign or food menu in China and receive instant translations," he told the judges. "On top of that we provide services like restaurant recommendations."
Some of the other projects were called "Easy Dip," "CloudIn," "Xtelli," and "à la post."
This is the sixth PennVention. Director Ann Stamer says the competition is designed to help students take their ideas from conceptualization to the marketplace.
"The idea is to really excite all students around innovation and for them to have a place to come to walk through, from beginning to end, so that the finalists are prepared and ready to move forward both with their ideas as well as the competition," she says.
First prize is $5,000 cash, but all the teams also get connected to industry mentors.
Reported by Paul Kurtz, KYW Newsradio 1060.
