Fourteen universities from around the globe competed in the first successful pilot for Invent for the Planet, an event that encouraged students to tackle big issues such as species conservation and human rights.

Wichita State hosted the local portion of the competition -- in conjunction with the regional University Innovation Fellows meetup -- with 41 participants, representing WSU, Butler Community College, Wichita East High School, University of Tulsa, Colorado School of Mines, William Jewell College (Missouri) and Susquehanna University (Pennsylvania).

Gary Brooking, WSU director of engineering technology, was part of the organization team and led the local event.

The winning team was “Project Inspire.” Their need was to “allow study in the evenings,” and their solution involved a system for recycling used phones and adding simple apps and content development to allow for easy reference material, note taking and studying applications for low- or no-light environments. A video of their presentation has been entered into the global competition to compete with the other 13 universities.

The overall global winner will get an opportunity to attend and present at the Venturewell OPEN conference.