2019 Lemelson Center Activities Report

VISION AND MISSION

VISION  

We envision a world in which everyone is inventive and inspired to contribute to innovation.

MISSION STATEMENT  

The Lemelson Center engages, educates, and empowers the public to participate in technological, economic, and social change. We undertake historical research, develop education initiatives, create exhibitions, and host public programming to advance new perspectives on invention and innovation and to foster interactions between the public and inventors. 

From the Director

Dear Friends of the Lemelson Center, 

In 2019, the Lemelson Center continued to change the way people think about the role of invention in their lives. We invited the public to interact directly with inventors in our public programs, ranging from the intimate Innovative Lives series to large-scale and wide-ranging invention festivals. Young people and adults tapped into their inventive sides in Draper Spark!Lab at the Smithsonian and across the nine-member Spark!Lab National Network. We completed the early conceptual framework for Game Changers, our future exhibition on invention and sports, scheduled to open in the Lemelson Hall of Invention in fall 2022. And our team continued its bedrock work to document inventors, to carry out and promote research in our archives and artifact collections, and to publish books, articles, blogs, and more online and in print to disseminate the history of invention to a broad public audience. 

As the Center looks toward its 25th anniversary in 2020, we are reminded that our work reflects not only what we have accomplished, but also universal themes in the study of history. One such theme, defined by the historian of technology Melvin Kranzberg in the mid- 1980s, asserts that “technology is neither good nor bad; nor is it neutral.” By that he meant that all technology has consequences, both intended and unintended. For example, plastics offer safer food packaging, lightweight containers for shipping, inexpensive toys for children, and myriad other benefits, but also are putting serious stress on aquatic ecosystems and communities worldwide. 

We also see such contradictory consequences playing out now, in a historical moment of critical concern about social media, artificial intelligence, and a variety of communications and surveillance technologies invented in the past three decades—even while we rely more and more on these new tools. Furthermore, the black-boxing of devices like the cell phone make these technologies resistant to tinkering, disassembly, and tweaking. Yet, these are critical skills to inculcate in today’s youth and our future inventors, scientists, and engineers. But more than that, there is a crisis looming of people who are not engaged with the development of new technologies and technology-based services, who do not take an active role in technology choices, and who do not feel they are inventive. 

To meet the challenges of inspiring young people to pursue invention and empowering everyone to be inventive, the Lemelson Center will move forward strongly in two crucial areas in 2020. First, we are carrying out research on fostering inventive identities among visitors to Spark!Lab and our forthcoming Game Changers exhibition. Helping people to see themselves as inventive and then to act on that enhanced identity will give a new purpose and outcome to a visit to the National Museum of American History (NMAH) and across the Spark!Lab network. 

Second, we will study and showcase the diversity of inventors, past and present. In the coming year, we will open Picturing Women Inventors, an exhibition that features the contributions of diverse historical and contemporary women inventors across a range of disciplines. Additional historical research and contemporary collecting will increase our ability to feature a broader array of role models in Spark!Lab, exhibitions, and in our public history writing. 

At our quarter-century milestone, we remain indebted to Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson and the Lemelson family for their philanthropic vision of a Center that adds to and leverages the global reach of the Smithsonian Institution. We are excited by the ongoing opportunity to engage, educate, and empower millions of people visiting our exhibitions at the NMAH, hundreds of thousands of children who invent in Spark!Lab, and tens of thousands of people who meet and talk with emerging and established inventors, scientists, and engineers at our programs. 

Arthur Daemmrich
Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Director

EXPLORE

The Lemelson Center explores invention and innovation with diverse audiences of all ages through exhibitions and programs. 

EXHIBITIONS 

Places of Invention 

Since 2015, the Lemelson Hall of Invention and Innovation at NMAH has featured our award-winning exhibition Places of Invention, which explores how place—whether physical, social, or cultural—supports, constrains, and shapes innovation. Invention hotspots across the United States are examined through a focus on six geographically and chronologically diverse communities: Silicon Valley, CA; Bronx, NY; Fort Collins, CO; Hartford, CT; Hollywood, CA; and Medical Alley, MN. Exhibiting these regional clusters next to each other highlights the transformative role of invention and innovation for the United States, while drawing out the importance of collaboration and risk-taking to changing technologies.

Game Changers 

The Lemelson Center’s Game Changers (GC) exhibition project embraces a dual mission. It invites broad audiences to explore how inventors, athletes, and technology have continuously changed how we play and relate to sports. But perhaps more importantly, the GC project will transform visitors into inventors who will recognize their own inherent capacity for inventiveness and self- identify as “game changers” who invent their own game-changing technologies. Thanks to a $150,000 grant from the Lemelson Foundation, the GC team finished a front-end audience study; initiated work on a conceptual design; met with our Exhibition Advisory Committee; and submitted a grant proposal to the National Science Foundation’s Advancing Informal STEM Learning Program. Throughout the year, the team continued to conduct research and refine exhibition concepts, themes, and goals; developed an initial list of stories and objects for the exhibition; and began to test content delivery and interactive strategies with priority audiences. 

Inventive Minds 

Inventive Minds is a changing exhibition gallery that introduces museum visitors to the Lemelson Center’s mission to foster an appreciation for the central role of invention and innovation in the history of the United States. Through first-person videos, artifacts, and archival materials, visitors to Inventive Minds learn about the traits that successful inventors share—insatiable curiosity, keen problem-solving skills, tenacity, and flexibility in the face of failure—and explore the creative spirit of American invention.

Throughout 2019, the Inventive Minds gallery featured a selection of stories illustrating the creativity of women inventors over more than a century. 

Some of the stories in the exhibition included: 

• Madam C. J. Walker, an African American inventor who created a highly successful business with her line of hair care products 
• Neonatal intensive care unit nurse Sharon Rogone, who invented medical supplies specifically for premature babies 
• Professional skateboarder Cindy Whitehead, whose brand, “Girl is NOT a 4 Letter Word,” is empowering girls and women in action sports

PUBLIC PROGRAMS 

INNOVATIVE LIVES 

The award-winning Innovative Lives program series engages audiences of all ages and backgrounds in public conversations with diverse inventors, innovators, and entrepreneurs about their pioneering work and careers.

James West and Ellington West 

Our first Innovative Lives program of the 2019 series on March 6 featured Dr. James West, inventor of the electret microphone, alongside his business partner (and daughter) Ellington West, CEO of Sonavi Labs, a company that develops modern medical products to diagnose disease by analyzing body sounds. The Wests shared generational stories connecting the encouragement of creativity early in their lives to their success as inventors in adulthood. 

Merry Lynn Morris 

On May 1, Dr. Merry Lynn Morris, choreographer and dance educator, began exploring the area of integrated/inclusive dance in 2002. Her long-term personal interest in the needs of people with disabilities stemmed from her experience caring for her father, who used a wheelchair. Morris described her work collaborating with engineers at the University of South Florida to invent new mobility devices such as the Rolling Dance Chair.

J Rawls with Martha Diaz 

This special Innovative Lives program, part of the museum’s America Now hip-hop festival on June 22, featured hip-hop DJ, producer, and educator Dr. J Rawls, with former Lemelson Center Fellow and hip-hop activist Martha Diaz in a conversation moderated by independent curator and museum consultant Jon West-Bey. The David H. Horowitz Fund, established by the Susan and David H. Horowitz Foundation, supports Lemelson Center programs related to musical creativity and innovation.

Kathryn D. Sullivan 

On December 4, Dr. Kathryn D. Sullivan, former astronaut and the first American woman to walk in space, recounted her experiences as part of the team that launched, rescued, repaired, and maintained the Hubble Space Telescope, the most productive observatory ever built. Sullivan also signed copies of her new book, Handprints on Hubble: An Astronaut’s Story of Invention, part of the Lemelson Center Studies in Invention and Innovation series, published in association with MIT Press. More than 300 visitors joined us for our best attended evening program of the year.

FESTIVALS 

Major day-long festivals attract large numbers of visitors, allowing us to create in-person experiences that advance scholarship on the history of invention, share stories about inventors and their work, and nurture creativity in young people.

Military Invention Day 

On May 18, the third annual Military Invention Day festival celebrated the crucial role for the United States of invention and technology development by the Armed Forces. Visitors learned about the evolving relationship between military research and entrepreneurship and enjoyed the opportunity to meet diverse scientists, engineers, and inventors from the military. By interacting with virtual reality, night vision, and dozens of other leading-edge technologies, attendees learned about active research and technology development projects and envisioned how advances in military technology will impact their daily lives in the future.

ACCelerate 

In collaboration with Virginia Tech’s Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology (ICAT), we presented the second ACCelerate: ACC Smithsonian Creativity and Innovation Festival celebrating creative exploration and research at the nexus of science, engineering, arts, and design across the 15 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) colleges and universities. The three-day festival during the first weekend in April provided an opportunity for museum guests of all ages to engage with the leading student and faculty innovators of the ACC’s member institutions. Addressing themes of culture and society, environment, and health and the body, the festival included 38 interactive installations, 13 performances by students and faculty, and the ACC Debate Championship.

Innoskate London

Innoskate public festivals bring skateboarders and non-skate audiences together to appreciate the creativity, invention, and innovation that are all around us—often in unexpected places. The 2019 Innoskate festival, held at Here East in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London, England, featured informal panel discussions, hands-on educational activities, learn-to-skate clinics, open public skating, and a best trick contest. Participants experienced skateboarding as an interdisciplinary lens for exploring the intersection of history, invention, and innovation with science, technology, engineering, art, music, and culture.

PANEL DISCUSSIONS 

Researchers, scholars, and academics participate in lively talks that probe questions about invention and innovation.

New Perspectives Symposium: Religion and Innovation

On April 12, the Lemelson Center partnered with the museum’s Religion in America Initiative to co-host a one-day public symposium and webcast on religion and innovation. The symposium brought together 15 leading scholars and an engaged audience to explore the historical and contemporary intersections of technological innovation and religious practice. Speakers described the religious inspirations underlying various inventions and the ways spiritual leaders have used emerging technologies—such as the telegraph, sound recordings, and virtual reality headsets—to spread their teachings. 

Software as Intellectual Property 

On June 12, the Center hosted a panel discussion about the history and development of software intellectual property protections, in collaboration with the Center for the Protection of Intellectual Property (CPIP) at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School. Historian and former Lemelson Center fellow Gerardo Con Diaz, IBM “master inventor” Susann Keohane, and Deputy Commissioner for Patent Examination Policy Robert Bahr considered the need to balance the concerns of inventors, corporations, and consumers with the benefits, limitations, and inherent complexity of patents or copyright on the software that increasingly controls everything from our thermostats to how we shop online.

STUDY

The Lemelson Center advances scholarship about the history of invention and innovation through workshops, fellowships, research opportunities, documentation activities, and publications.

LEMELSON CENTER RESEARCH INITIATIVES

For 25 years, the Lemelson Center has been a leader in the study of invention and innovation. In 2019, the Center significantly advanced its work to record, archive, and make available documentation about inventors and others who build and maintain thriving innovation ecosystems.

Video Game Pioneers 

The Video Game Pioneers Initiative preserves the legacy of video game pioneers through in-depth oral histories and preservation of original documents and other materials. Significant progress was made in 2019 to process oral histories conducted in 2017 and 2018 with the inventors of SpaceWar!, the founders of Atari, and numerous other creators of video and computer games in the 1970s and early 1980s. Interviews are being added to the archives of the NMAH and will be widely available online. In addition, in partnership with Lemelson Center Distinguished Research Scholar Christopher Weaver, we conducted three new interviews in 2019; highlights included Scott Adams talking about creating Adventureland and Pirate Adventure; David Lebling detailing his development of the Zork series; and Warren Robinett relating how he came to place the first “Easter egg” into his Atari game, Adventure.

Innovation 360 

A broad ecosystem of individuals and institutions supports inventors, including inventors’ clubs and professional organizations; angel investors, venture capitalists, and financiers; incubators and entrepreneurial coaches; patent agents and intellectual property attorneys; product designers, manufacturers, and marketers; and bankruptcy-liquidation specialists. In 2019, we advanced the processing of three oral histories with venture capitalists and carried out new oral histories with early-stage angel investor Tom Baruch and bankruptcy expert Martin Pichinson, who assists failed startups in liquidating their assets.

Recovering Diverse Voices in the History of Invention

Focusing on the “hidden figures” in the history of invention—women, people of color, immigrants, people with disabilities, and others—whose stories often have been overlooked, undervalued, and sometimes lost, this new research and outreach initiative aims to increase understanding of the work of diverse and underrepresented inventors. With an initial concentration on women inventors, the core team has completed work in 2019 on a photo exhibition titled Picturing Women Inventors (opening in May 2020, with the possibility of a traveling version), secured funding for five oral histories, and began an index of inventions by women represented in the museum’s collections.

RESEARCH SUPPORT 

The Lemelson Center supports the work of scholars by offering residential fellowships, travel-to-collections grants, and an annual archival internship.

Fellowships 

The Arthur Molella Distinguished Fellowship is endowed by the Lemelson Foundation to honor the Lemelson Center’s founding director emeritus, Dr. Arthur P. Molella, and his scholarly contributions in the history of American invention and innovation.

• The 2018–2019 Molella Distinguished Fellow was Dr. Patrick McCray, professor of history at the University of California, Santa Barbara. His research project, “Artists as Inventors, Inventors as Artists,” contributes to a forthcoming book, Making Art Work (MIT Press, 2020). 
• The 2019–2020 Molella Distinguished Fellow is Dr. Amy Bix, professor of history at Iowa State University. Her research project is exploring “The Re-Gendering of Inventiveness and the History of the Girls’ STEM Movement.” 

In 2019, we also welcomed the following Lemelson Center fellows:

• Elizabeth Badger, PhD candidate, History, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities,“Commodification and Culture in Video Games”
• Will Chou, PhD candidate, History, Ohio State University, “Material Ambassadors: Japanese Camera and Automobile Exports in the American Market and the Expansion of US-Japanese Relations, 1950-1985” 
• Dr. Jean Franzino, visiting assistant professor, English, Beloit College, “Dis-Union: Disability Cultures and the American Civil War” 
• Garrett McKinnon, PhD candidate, History, Duke University, “Of Airplanes, Pilots, and Drones: A History of U.S. Machine Warfare, 1910-2012” 
• Sofya Ryabchuk, Fulbright International Fellow and educator, National Art Museum of Ukraine, “Museum Education: Best Practices for Engaging Kids and Teens” 
• Samantha Shorey, PhD candidate, Communications, University of Washington, “Margaret Hamilton and The Core Memory Weavers: The Women Who Put Man on the Moon”
• Nicole Welk-Joerger, PhD candidate, History and Sociology of Science, University of Pennsylvania, “Feeding Others to Feed Ourselves: Animal Nutrition and the Politics of Health since 1900”

Travel-to-Collections Awards 

Travel awards provide funds that help researchers access the museum’s extensive holdings in the history of invention and innovation. In 2019, we hosted the following awardees: 

• Tad Brown, PhD candidate, School of Law, University of Queensland, “Intellectual Property and Peanuts” 
• Erin Cully, PhD candidate, History, City University of New York Graduate Center, “Banking on Change: The Politics of US Bank Innovation and Consolidation” 
• Dr. Scott Kushner, assistant professor, Communication Studies, University of Rhode Island, “The Industrial-Age Ticket: Regulating Crowds and Access to Culture” 
• Dr. Serenity Sutherland, assistant professor, Communication Studies, State University of New York at Oswego, “Visualizing 19th and 20th-century Women in Science and Technology” 

Summer Archival Internship 

This archival internship offers an opportunity for a graduate student archivist to work on invention-related collections held in the museum’s Archives Center. 

The 2019 Summer Archival Intern was Miles Lawlor, State University of New York at Albany. He worked with several collections, including the Worthington Company Papers, Oscar W. Richards Collection, Richard H. Miller Bridge Collection of Postcards and Slides, Washington Steel Company Records, Hezekiah Bissell Papers, and the Horatio Allen Papers.

PUBLICATIONS 

During 2019, the Lemelson Center continued its robust publications program, including blogs, peer-reviewed articles, book reviews, and new additions to the Lemelson Center Studies in Invention and Innovation book series with MIT Press.

Lemelson Center Center Studies Published in 2019:

Does America Need More Innovators? edited by Matthew Wisnioski, Eric S. Hintz, and Marie Stettler Kleine.

This collection of essays is a critical exploration of today’s global imperative to innovate, by champions, critics, and reformers of innovation. 

Handprints on Hubble: An Astronaut’s Story of Invention, by Kathyrn D. Sullivan.

A former astronaut and the first American woman to walk in space explores a vital but overlooked chapter in the Hubble Space Telescope’s story—the period from 1984 to 1990 during which she was part of the team that turned general notions of on-orbit maintenance into the concrete stuff of tools, training materials, and procedures. 

Staff Publications 

• Joyce Bedi, “Ralph Baer: An Interactive Life,” Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies 1, no. 1 (January 2019), 18-25. 
• Arthur Daemmrich, “Technology and Employment: Pin Making and the First Industrial Revolution’s Long Tail,” Medium (25 March 2019). 
• Eric S. Hintz, “Failed Inventor Initiatives from the Franklin Institute to Quirky,” in Does America Need More Innovators? edited by Matt Wisnioski, Eric S. Hintz, and Marie Stettler Kleine (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2019): 165-189. 
• Arthur P. Molella and Scott Gabriel Knowles, eds., World’s Fairs in the Cold War: Science, Technology, and the Culture of Progress (Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2019).

TRY

Spark!Lab, the Center’s premier educational program, engages and empowers families to participate in the invention process through outreach initiatives at the museum, nationally, and internationally.

Draper Spark!Lab

Draper Spark!Lab at NMAH welcomed more than 220,000 visitors in 2019 to explore, create, collaborate, and invent. Activities are designed around family-friendly themes that connect to museum collections and change every four months, ensuring Spark!Lab visitors have something new to experience each time they visit.

In 2019, Spark!Lab inventors explored the themes of ADAPT, BUILD, and PRODUCE, using their creativity to construct solutions to different challenges, environments, needs, and purposes, and to tweak existing inventions for more than one use.

Spark!Lab Dr. InBae Yoon Invent It Challenge Celebration

The Invent It Challenge is an annual competition that inspires students ages 5-18 around the world to unleash their inner inventor. Students document their use of the Spark!Lab invention process to brainstorm new inventions that solve global problems. For the 2019 Dr. InBae Yoon Challenge, participants focused their minds and talent on generating inventions that enhance and improve the daily lives and activities of older adults.

Thanks to the generosity of the Yoon family, US-based winners traveled to Washington, DC, with chaperones for special workshops and tours from June 27–29. 

Spark!Lab National Network 

The Spark!Lab National Network currently encompasses nine locations across the United States:

• The Children’s Museum of the Upstate (Greenville, South Carolina) 
• Edison and Ford Winter Estates (Fort Myers, Florida) 
• Holland Museum (Holland, Michigan) 
• Irving Archives and Museum (Irving, TX) 
• Michigan Science Center (Detroit, Michigan) 
• Midland Center for the Arts (Midland, Michigan) 
• Springfield Museums (Springfield, Massachusetts) 
• Terry Lee Wells Nevada Discovery Museum (Reno, Nevada) 
• US Space and Rocket Center (Huntsville, Alabama) 

In 2019, these nine sites served over 357,000 visitors and developed more than 25 new programs and activities to engage the public in the invention process.

FACTS AND FIGURES

In-Person Engagement

• 37,724 participants at Lemelson Center public programs
• 199,483 visitors to Draper Spark!Lab
• 1,000,000 visitors to Places of Invention and Inventive Minds exhibitions
• 3,885 docent interactions with visitors to Places of Invention and Inventive Minds
• 357,280 visitors to all Spark!Lab National Network Sites

Digital Engagement

• 600,000 Lemelson Center website total visitation
• 14,159 Lemelson Center blog pages views
• 23,000 Lemelson Center YouTube views (2,800 hours = 116.66 days; 41 new subscribers)

Social Media Interactions 

• Facebook
  • 2,972 total fans; 157 new fans in 2019; 277 engagements including 165 reactions, 76 shares; 20 posts; 400,000 impressions and 6,000 users reached
• Twitter
  • 3,855 total followers; 80 tweets; 686 engagements; 310 mentions; 214,759 impressions
• Instagram
  • 1,540 followers; 46 posts; 1,578 engagements; 25,108 impressions; 18,421 users reached

News Publication Highlights

The Lemelson Center was featured in over 50 significant media pieces, including placements in Variety, ABC News, Bloomberg, Politico, Smithsonian magazine, Slate, USA Today, the Washington Post, and Inventors Digest. 

Financials

Revenue

• Endowment revenue: $1,481,000.
• All other support: $395,000.

Expenditures

• Spending on salary and benefits: $1,619,000.
• Spending on programs and public engagement: $257,000.

LOOKING AHEAD

We will continue to change how the public understands the role of invention in their daily lives and inspire people to expand their inherent capacity for creativity and inventive thinking.

25 Years

When the Lemelson Center was founded in 1995 through the generosity of Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson, The Washington Post proclaimed it the “motherlode of invention.” We will celebrate our history—and future—throughout 2020.

Picturing Women Inventors exhibition (opening May 2020)

Although the word “inventor” may bring to mind men like Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell, women inventors have always been an essential part of the invention landscape. The stories in Picturing Women Inventors illustrate how the creativity of women inventors—throughout American history and across diverse backgrounds and interests—has changed our lives in myriad ways. The exhibition features 12 stories of historic and contemporary women inventors and their inventions in bold wall murals with large-scale photographs of the inventors and images from the museum’s extensive archives and artifact collections.

Game Changers exhibition and research project 

Work continues on many fronts as Game Changers takes shape. An important objective of the exhibition is to transform visitors’ inventive identities as they are challenged to be inventive and create their own “game changing” sports technologies and techniques. To this end, we have identified three priority audiences for the exhibition: young women and girls, ages 10–17; African American young men and boys, ages 10—17; and people with disabilities. With these audiences in mind, the team will conduct formative audience evaluation testing to inform the exhibition design process during the next phase of development. We are actively seeking support to study the potential of informal education spaces like museum exhibitions to impact an individual’s personal understanding of their own inventive identity. The Game Changers team will also continue to meet with advisors; conduct research on sports technology, inventors, and athletes; hone exhibition content ideas and interactive strategies; and begin to develop plans for publication of a complementary book when the exhibition opens in fall 2022.

Innovative Lives with Sports Tech Inventors (first Wednesdays from February–May) 

Innovative Lives in 2020 will feature sports technology inventors and innovators as part of the Lemelson Center’s research and exhibition development for Game Changers. 

• Adaptive Skateboarding, WCMX, and Inventing Your Own Path with Aaron Fotheringham, Oscar Loreto Jr., and Dan Mancina, moderated by Jeff Brodie 
• Jogbra inventors Lisa Lindahl, Hinda Miller, and Polly Palmer Smith, moderated by Monica Smith 
• Quickie wheelchair inventor Marilyn Hamilton, moderated by NMAH curator Katherine Ott 
• Paralympic skier Sarah Will with Paralympic snowboarder and prosthetics inventor Mike Schultz, moderated by NMAH curator Jane Rogers 

New Book in the Lemelson Center Studies Series (March 17)

Beyond Bakelite: Leo Baekeland and the Business of Science and Invention by Joris Mercelis analyzes the career of Belgian-American chemical innovator Leo Baekeland. Mercelis casts new light on the connections and interdependencies between science and industry in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, focusing on the themes of intellectual property and scientific entrepreneurship. 

National Council for History Education, “Invention and Innovation in American History” Colloquium for Teachers (April 17-19)

During this three-day educational forum, the Lemelson Center team will host 30 history educators for a colloquium focused on inventive thinking inside and outside the classroom. 

Military Invention Day (May 9) 

The 2020 festival will feature more than 30 displays of leading-edge military technology, talks by military leadership, and interactive demonstrations and hands-on activities led by scientists, engineers, and inventors from the armed forces and allied research organizations.

Intellectual Property Panel: Patents on Life— Diamond v. Chakrabarty at 40 (June 17)

On the anniversary of the Supreme Court decision that authorized patents on genetically modified organisms, an expert panel will discuss breakthroughs in agricultural biotechnology, explore the controversies surrounding patents on living organisms for farming, and evaluate the impact of such patents on the future of America’s innovation and patent systems. 

EurekaFest (June 19) 

Museum visitors will enjoy this opportunity, co-hosted with the Lemelson-MIT Program, to interact with high school and college inventors and more than 20 invention prototypes from across the United States. 

Spark!Lab Dr. InBae and Mrs. Kyung Joo Yoon Invent It Challenge Celebration (August 6-8)

With generous sponsorship from the Yoon family, and in partnership with Cricket Media, the 2020 contest challenges young inventors to create a new invention that helps provide access to healthy food for everyone, everywhere, every day. The third annual celebratory weekend for the 2020 Invent It Challenge winners will bring together young inventors ages 5–18 to display their inventions and celebrate the inventive legacy of Dr. InBae Yoon. 

Annual New Perspectives on Invention and Innovation Symposium (Fall 2020)

Our 2020 New Perspectives symposium will explore the latest scholarship on inventors from historically underrepresented groups, such as women inventors, African Americans inventors, and inventors with disabilities.

SPECIAL THANKS

The Center values collaborating with partners across a broad spectrum of fields. In 2019, we especially acknowledge the following financial supporters and program partners:

• Access Smithsonian
• American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) Association of the United States Army (AUSA) Atlantic Coast Conference 
• Autodesk, Inc. 
• The Boardr 
• Chelsea Football Club 
• The Children’s Museum of the Upstate in Greenville, SC 
• Coastal Bridge Advisors 
• Create-A-Skate 
• Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) 
• Alphonse DeSena 
• Edison and Ford Winter Estates in Fort Myers, FL 
• Entertainment Software Association (ESA) 
• ePals and Cricket Media 
• Faber-Castell 
• FAR Academy 
• Ford Motor Company Fund 
• George Mason University Center for the Protection of Intellectual Property (CPIP) 
• Here East 
• Barbara Hiatt, in honor of Father John Scott Holland Museum 
• Holland Museum 
• David H. Horowitz Endowment Fund 
• Judy and Bob Huret 
• Carol Inman 
• Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology (ICAT), Virginia Tech 
• Irving Archives and Museum Randi Korn & Associates, Inc. The Lemelson Foundation
• The London Legacy Development Corporation Michigan Science Center
• Midland Center for the Arts in Midland, MI
• The MIT Press 
• NMAH Office of Audience Engagement 
• NMAH Office of Building Renovation and Exhibition Services 
• NMAH Office of Curatorial Affairs 
• NMAH Office of Management and Museum Services 
• Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park 
• Eric Rugart 
• Smithsonian Office of Contracting 
• Smithsonian Office of General Counsel 
• Smithsonian Office of International Relations 
• Smithsonian Office of the Provost/Under Secretary for Museums and Research 
• Smithsonian Office of Sponsored Projects Solutions, Inc.
• SportTechie
• Springfeld Museums 
• Terry Lee Wells Nevada Discovery Museum US Embassy, London
• US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, AL USA Skateboarding 
• United States Patent and Trademark Offce (USPTO) 
• University College of London’s Bartlett School of Architecture 
• University of Westminster Virginia Tech
• Mary Anne Wassenberg
• Chris and Nanci Weaver
• West Ham United Football Club
• Kyung Joo H. Yoon and Family

TEAM AND ADVISORY COMMITTEES

The Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation was founded in 1995 through the generosity of Jerome Lemelson, one of America’s most prolific independent inventors, and his family.

LEMELSON CENTER TEAM 2019 

• Arthur Daemmrich, Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Director 
• Jeff Brodie, Deputy Director 
• Joyce Bedi, Senior Historian 
• Nyssa Buning, Spark!Lab National Network Coordinator 
• Zach Etsch, Spark!Lab Lead Facilitator 
• Emma Grahn, Museum Program Specialist 
• Laura Havel, Public Affairs Specialist 
• Kaye Hawkins, Finance and Administration Officer 
• Eric S. Hintz, Historian and Fellowship Coordinator 
• Sharon Klotz, Head of Education 
• Meg Maher, Exhibition Researcher 
• Alison Oswald, Archivist and Travel-to-Collections Coordinator 
• Abigail Phelps, Spark!Lab Facilitator 
• Tim Pula, Interpretive Exhibits Inventor 
• James Santos, Spark!Lab Facilitator 
• Monica M. Smith, Head of Exhibitions and Interpretation

Lemelson Center Advisory Board

• Jenne Britell, Chairman and Director, United Rentals (retired) 
• Lisa Cook, Associate Professor of Economics and International Relations, Michigan State University 
• Susannah Fox, Independent consultant and health innovation leader 
• Robert Horton, Chair, NMAH Archives Center 
• Sheila Jasanoff, Professor of Science and Technology Studies, Harvard Kennedy School of Government 
• Corinna Lathan, Founder and CEO, AnthroTronix 
• Henry Lowood, Curator, History of Science & Technology, Stanford University Libraries 
• Bill Masters, Founder, Perception Kayaks (retired) 
• Kevin McGovern, Chairman and CEO, McGovern Capital 
• Christine Peterson, Stanford Research Institute (retired) 
• Trevor Pinch, Professor of Science and Technology Studies, Cornell University 
• Leonard Polizzotto, Innovation consultant 
• Alton Romig, Executive Officer, National Academy of Engineering 
• Christopher Weaver, Founder, Bethesda Softworks 
• James West, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Johns Hopkins University

Game Changers Advisory Committee

• Jayatri Das. Chief Bioscientist, The Franklin Institute 
• Ray Fouché, Director and Professor American Studies Program, Purdue University 
• Josh Friedberg, CEO, USA Skateboarding 
• Joanna Garner, Executive Director Center for Educational Partnerships, Old Dominion University 
• Jay Gladden, Associate Vice Chancellor, Undergraduate Education, IUPUI 
• Grant Hastings, Vice President, Network Operations Monumental Sports and Entertainment 
• James Japhet, Managing Director, Hawk-Eye North America Hawk-Eye Innovations Ltd. 
• Andi Johnson, Senior Lecturer, History and Sociology of Science University of Pennsylvania 
• Avi Kaplan, Professor Educational Psychology, Temple University 
• Dan Kaufman, Managing Director, SportTechie 
• Chip Lindsey, Director of Education, Pittsburgh Children’s Museum 
• Jesse Lovejoy, Director, San Francisco 49ers Museum 
• Kaarta Maron, Chief of Staff and Director of Marketing and Brand Communications, Windpact 
• Liz Nugent, Manager, Brand Partnership, Autodesk 
• Christine Reich, Senior Vice President, Exhibits and Research, Museum of Science Boston Roto Group LLC 
• Bram Weinstein, Owner, Ampire Media, and Co-Owner, Reel Media Group 
• Sarah Will, Paralympic medalist skier and accessibility advocate 
• Beth Ziebarth, Director, Access Smithsonian