PICATINNY ARSENAL, N.J. (July 15, 2015) -- When Picatinny employees Ralph Tillinghast and Anthony Ur recently presented a workshop on invention and innovation to students, the topics also included obtaining patents, marketing, and reaching out to companies that could help to advance their ideas.
"The difference between inventing and innovating is that innovating is really bringing it to the world, through patents and marketing and resources from companies," Tillinghast explained.
"The ideas aren't simply going to get out there [without effort]," he added. "They need a path to market. Otherwise, the idea just sits on a shelf.
"The main thing is to help the kids so that they can bring their ideas to fruition, to bring them alive. They don't have to solve world hunger. They can do small things to help people. That takes a lot of pressure off them," said Tillinghast, Lab Director of the Collaboration Innovation Lab at Picatinny.
Tillinghast and Ur were among the dozens of employees from the Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC) at Picatinny who supported a national competitive event last month as part of a U.S. Army initiative called eCYBERMISSION.
eCYBERMISSION is one of several science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) initiatives offered by the Army Educational Outreach Program.
The Army is committed to answering the nation's need for increased national STEM literacy and expanding STEM education opportunities across the country to open doors to new career paths for America's students.
The 2015 National Judging and Educational Event was held at the Hunt Valley Inn at Hunt Valley, Maryland.
It was the culminating week-long experience for all 2014-2015 national finalist and STEM-in-Action grant recipient teams.
As part of eCYBERMISSION, sixth through ninth grade student teams identify a community problem related to topics that include alternative energy sources, the environment, national security and safety, forces and motion, robotics, technology, food, health and fitness.
Teams work collaboratively using the scientific method to conduct research, hypothesize, run experiments to test hypotheses and draw conclusions from data to propose and implement a solution.
In their workshop, Tillinghast and Ur covered the fundamentals of innovation and the inventing process.
Students also had hands-on activities and the opportunity to use tools that enable them to create prototypes of their ideas with 3-D printing, scanning, and solid modeling.
Glen Berg was ARDEC's eCYBERMISSION National Judge Representative.National Judges participated on a judging panels consisting of five National Judges (comprised of senior scientists or engineers across the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command, which is the parent command of ARDEC.
Marcin Rosol was ARDEC's eCYBERMISSION 9th grade mentor.
"His purpose at the competition was to inspire further student interest in STEM by sharing the paths they have taken in their own career development," said Tiffany Mills, who served as the eCYBERMISSION lead at Picatinny.
Yin Chen, Jen Batz, William Truran and Mills were the ARDEC eCYBERMISSION Regional Judges, who scored first-place state winners in April to identify the regional winners who went to the national event.
The other 55 ARDEC volunteers were Virtual Judges who scored "mission folders" to identify state winners.
"By reaching out to neighboring schools and students worldwide, we have enhanced the image of Picatinny, its role in the community, and potentially helped develop the next generation of ARDEC scientists and engineers," Mills said.
Twenty first-place regional winning teams attend and compete for a chance to win up to $5,000 in U.S. Series EE Savings Bonds.
Up to five additional regional finalist teams may attend via STEM-in-Action Award.
The final registration numbers showed 27,955 registered students and 6,763 complete teams registered.
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The Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center is part of the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command, which has the mission to develop technology and engineering solutions for America's Soldiers.
RDECOM is a major subordinate command of the U.S. Army Materiel Command. AMC is the Army's premier provider of materiel readiness -- technology, acquisition support, materiel development, logistics power projection, and sustainment -- to the total force, across the spectrum of joint military operations. If a Soldier shoots it, drives it, flies it, wears it, eats it or communicates with it, AMC provides it.
Related Links:
U.S. Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC) homepage
U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command (RDECOM) homepage
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