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This short-form video presented by the Smithsonian’s Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation and SportTechie challenges viewers to ask what were the innovations that stadiums got right and which ones missed their mark. This video is part of the new Game Changers exhibition that is scheduled to open at the National Museum of American History in the fall of 2022.
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Grand Stands: Stadium Technology and the New Fan Experience, explores how design innovations and new interactive technologies elevate the fan experience and build community at three of the world’s newest stadium projects: SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, California; seven new stadiums and a major renovation in Doha, Qatar; and the Chase Center in San Francisco, California.
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The Lemelson Center and SportTechie collaborated to produce IMPACT, featuring interviews with representatives from the NFL and the Pro Football Hall of Fame, professors and engineers from helmet research labs at Virginia Tech and the University of Virginia, helmet manufacturers Vicis and Riddell, and former NFL players Shawn Springs and Eric Winston.
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Jeff Brodie, Deputy Director of the Lemelson Center, discussed the Center's multiyear effort to study invention, sport, technology, and society on the SportTechie podcast.
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This session at SXSWedu in March 2017 was rated as one of the five best. Listen to what Lemelson Center head of education Tricia Edwards had to say about teaching the “4Cs of 21st Century Skills” in dynamic ways.
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Alexis Lewis, a teenage inventor with a patent to her name and more likely on the way, wants children across the country to know that an inventor isn’t something you have to be when you grow up; they can be one now. From Smithsonian.com (2015)
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On 16 February 2017, the Lemelson Center, the USPTO, and the Center for the Protection of Intellectual Property hosted a panel discussion that explored the history of innovation and the broader social, political, and legal context in which it occurred in the late nineteenth century in the United States. Speakers adressed the historical role of patents, research-intensive startups, litigation, and licensing in an important period of disruptive innovation.
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Highlights of Make48, the 48 hour invent-a-thon challenge, 10-12 June 2016, in collaboration with the Lemelson Center. Video by Alden Miller of Alchemy.
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MIT Media Lab's Hugh Herr explains to Wired.com how he looks to nature when developing new bionic appendages. The amputee and avid rock climber discusses how his biomechatronics division is pioneering the technologies that aim to augment human physical capabilities.
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A museum in Reading, England found an unwelcome guest in an artifact designed to kill.
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Berkshire Museum, a Spark!Lab National Network member, on kid inventors and the 5th annual Spark!Lab Invent It Challenge.
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In 1960, custom colors for Fender electric guitars were standardized. For the most part, Fender used automotive paint from DuPont. John Lennon and George Harrison of The Beatles owned Fender Stratocasters painted in “Sonic Blue,” one of the colors available on the 1956 Cadillac.
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At the 2015 IdeaFestival, Google engineer (and Lemelson Center Advisory Board Member) Dr. James McLurkin shared his research on swarm robotics and how he believes they could be the future of space exploration, disaster rescue, and more.
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"How a Place Matters," a documentary produced by Rocky Mountain PBS and Colorado State University, takes an in-depth look at what makes Fort Collins an important place of invention.
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Get to your nearest hotspot and geek out on this interactive timeline on the history of wi-fi.
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Dude, "The Boardr" did an awesome recap of the Lemelson Center's Innoskate program in Greenville, South Carolina, produced in collaboration with the Children's Museum of the Upstate.
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Like the legendary television character of MacGyver, visitors to Spark!Lab are challenged to solve problems with ingenuity, a pile of off-the-shelf items, and the tools to get the job done. From Smithsonian.com.
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Lecture delivered by Dr. Regina Blaszcyk at the Hagley Museum and Library on September 12, 2013 about the relationship between color and commerce in American history. The lecture covered the role of professional “color forecasters” and “color engineers” who helped major corporations bridge the gap between color and enterprise. Then and now, professional colorists use psychology and illusion to capture the hearts—and dollars—of consumers.