HATTIESBURG – Is the next Thomas Edison or Bill Gates waiting undiscovered at the University of Southern Mississippi?

If so, the College of Science and Technology and the Department of Economic Development want to give them the chance to take their ideas from the drawing board to the marketplace.

Offering more than $5,000 in prize money to enterprising students and staff members with creative designs and inventions, “Invent Your Future!” will be held April 28 on the Hattiesburg campus.

“The modern research university must celebrate the creative energies of not
just its faculty, but also its students and staff to stimulate new ideas and inventions and to stress the importance of the creative impulse,” said Dr. Rex Gandy, dean of the College of Science and Technology. “Last year’s inaugural competition was a huge success, and this year we expect an even greater turnout.”

Sponsored by Noetic Technology Inc., the Southern Miss Research Foundation and the Office of the Vice President for Research, the contest will allow participants a chance to develop a business plan with the guidance of Noetic. Participants will also have the opportunity to network and interact with judges, business leaders and venture capitalists at the colloquium and competition.

“Our expectation is that the invention and ideas will move past the ‘event phase’ and provide opportunities for the inventors,” said Dr. Les Goff, president and CEO of Noetic Technologies Inc.

“Our goal is to create opportunities for entrepreneurs and inventors and connect them to the market.  We want to take creativity to innovation. We think that these events are the foundation that begins to capture opportunities.”

The deadline for entries is Feb. 24. Entrants should describe their invention, its potential for application, what makes it better than the current technologies and how it will be presented in the final competition. Finalists for the April 28 competition will be notified by March 24.

Last year, students Stacy Trey, Alicyn Rhoades and David Weldon won first place in the competition for their project, titled “NuBone: Hip Replacement Stem,” that focused on a modified hip stem that could reduce or eliminate infections, surgeries and pain endured by some patients who undergo a total-hip replacement.

Students Vijayaraj Nagarajan and Venkata Thodima finished in second place with “Improved MCC: An Efficient Method for Clustering Gene Expression Data,” a potential tool in discovering candidate drug targets for deadly diseases like breast cancer.

Third-place honors went to Southern Miss staff member John Anderson, whose “Race Ramp” creation was inspired by his son Hayden.  The Race Ramp is a toy made for small cars like Hot Wheels.  It has four lanes, a starting block, a slope for cars to race down and folds up to hold several cars, making it easy for storage and travel.