DaVinci Inventor Showcase – 2011
7th Annual – DAVINCI INVENTOR SHOWCASE TOOK PLACE ON NOVEMBER 5, 2011
2011 Award winners included:
Inventor of the Year award winner Dan Hobson (center) with Tom Franklin (left) and Thomas Frey.
- Inventor of the Year Award – Dan Hobson – Ross Nanotechnology Corporation – NeverWet™ is a super hydrophobic coating that completely repels water and heavy oils.
- Commercial Product of the Year Award – Daryl Oster – ET3™ – Evacuated Tube Transport Technologies is a patented transportation technology (for people and goods) that is faster than jets, yet can provide 50 times more transportation per kWh than the most efficient electric car or train.
- Consumer Product of the Year Award – Francisco Garcia and Gustavo Leo - Klinggon – Magnetic earphone cable holder
- Software Product of the Year Award – Eric May – CoKnown – CoKnown is the Knowledge Network: a collaborative, cloud based, research platform.
- Food & Drink Product of the Year Award - Nancy Mercanti – Herbs Unlimited Inc. – Innovative process to “Fast Freeze” and package chopped herbs in a way that is measured, always at hand and tastes great.
- Honorable Mention – Dave & Valerie Marshall – Leash Locket – A retractable dog leash designed to fit into a compact locket that snaps to a magnetic collar attachment when not in use, allowing your dog to carry the leash when you want hands-free convenience.
- Honorable Mention – Brian Trang – Gadget Feet – A unique and compact Portable Electronic device stand (for laptops, iPad,Tablet PC, keyboard…)that helps improve posture and increase productivity.
- Honorable Mention – Larry Pliley – Portavise – Portable vise allows for mobility and flexibility while enabling you to perform precise or delicate workmanship.
Louis Foreman, Diana Urbine, Deb Frey and Thomas Frey at the 2011 DaVinci Inventors Showcase.
Inventors are our heroes at the DaVinci Institute. We are always excited when their eyes light up as they tell us about their latest project.
Every invention that we saw at the 2011 DaVinci Inventor Showcase was the culmination of numerous hours of energy, research and testing that has born fruit in unique ways.
Thank you for helping to make this a truly remarkable event.
Joy Milkowski in front of Noah’s
Diana Urbine gave a very informative talk about the workings of QVC.
The room was attentive to Diana Urbine’s speach.
Louis Foreman gave a very compelling talk about being an inventor.
The NeverWet demonstration in progress.
Skymall Product Scout Matt Genandt with Louis Foreman.
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Photos above courtesy of Steve Sokolik and Soko Photos.
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November 5, 2011 – Event Schedule
- 10:00 am – Celebrity Judge and VIP Preview
- 12:00 pm – DaVinci Inventor Showcase officially opens to the public
- 5:00-6:00 pm – Keynote Speaker – Diana Urbine – QVC Expert & On-Air Personality
- 6:00-6:30 pm – Featured Speaker – Louis Foreman – CEO of EdisonNation, Publisher of Inventor’s Digest
- 6:30 pm – Winner Announcements
- 7:00 pm – Event wrap up
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Keynote Speaker
Diana Urbine – QVC Expert & On-Air Personality. Diana is the Executive VP Sales and Broadcasting for Spectrum Rep Group in Lancaster, PA. Diana has been an on-air guest personality and manufacturers’ rep for over 10 years at QVC, which includes over 1,500 live on-air appearances. Seasoned and experienced in all aspects of live television production, preparation and presentation, her background includes over 16 years in corporate and retail sales, marketing and training for both print media and live television. Diana has represented numerous long standing successful brands both as an on-air presenter and as a manufacturers’ representative, as well as, hundreds of first timers and single product companies. She has worked with companies domestically and internationally to help them sell their products and build their brands through the television marketing venue. Her extensive knowledge and experience of the QVC processes and expectations has helped hundreds of clients successfully present and sell their products to QVC.
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The $25 Million Innovation Fund Partnership
The DaVinci Institute has formed a partnership with North Carolina-based Edison Nation to fund promising inventors through a newly established $25 million innovation fund. As part of this arrangement, Edison Nation founder Louis Foreman, will be a featured speaker and celebrity judge at the DaVinci Inventor Showcase where he will give a short keynote address announcing special invitations for 3-5 inventors exhibiting at the event to take part in the Innovation Fund process.
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Featured Speaker
Louis Foreman is a prolific inventor, product developer, innovation enthusiast and small business entrepreneur. He is the CEO of EdisonNation, publisher of Inventor’s Digest, and producer of the Emmy Award winning PBS series Everyday Edisons.
In the past 20 years, Louis has created nine successful startups and has been directly responsible for the creation of more than 20 others. He has 10 patents personally and his firm has been responsible for the development of over 500 more.
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- Event Location -
Noah’s Event Center – Map
11885 N. Bradburn Blvd.
Westminster, CO 80031
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DaVinci Inventor Showcase Success Stories! Click Here
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Celebrity Judges
This year’s event will include over 100 Celebrity Judges reviewing the entries including TV personalities, VCs, business leaders, product scouts, corporate execs, magazine editors, and many more. Each Judge is personally committed to helping inventors and helping to build a more vibrant inventor community. Here are a few of the talented people we’ll have judging this year’s exhibits:
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Diana Urbine |
Ken Clark News Anchor Good Day Colorado KDVR FOX-31 |
Louis Foreman CEO of Edison Nation |
Gregg Moss News Anchor 9News |
Su Hawk |
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Ed Greene |
Donna Petrocco President Valley Bank |
Berny Dohrmann Founder and Chairman CEO Space |
Ron Bills CEO Envirofit |
Michael Bissonnette Founder of Aerogrow |
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| Michael Cote Managing Editor ColoradoBiz Magazine |
Michael Brown |
Janice Jensen Television Producer Mt Evans |
Pat Engstrom Founder of Prana |
Robert Reich |
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| Gina Schreck President, Synapse 3Di |
Dave Taylor Web Guru AskDaveTaylor.com Senior Fellow DaVinci Institute |
Richard Albair Business Development Expert State of Colorado |
Bert Vermeulen Senior Fellow at the DaVinci Institute, Founder of Corp21 |
Brett Green Chief Marketing Officer for Oxstein Design Labs |
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Tom Franklin |
David Sandusky President Founder Recruiting Partners |
Tracy Houston Chairman of the Board at iCAST |
Joy Milkowski Founder of Access Marketing Senior Fellow at the DaVinci Institute |
Steve Baker |
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| Joel Comm Web Guru Founder Info Media |
Lida Citroen Owner and Principal of LIDA360 |
Sam Rediess Senior Director Oracle |
Nicole Glaros Managing Director TechStars |
Jeffrey Samson Founder Samson Design |
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| Larry Nelson Co-founder of w3w3 @ Talk Radio |
Mike Schmidt CEO Ensemble Ventures |
Matt Genandt Product Manager SkyMall |
Michael Sitarzewski Founder and CEO HyperSites.com |
Melanie Romero Inventor of the SnapBagger |
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| Scott Cooley Product Scout McGuckin’s Hardware |
Scott Tibbets Executive Director eSpace Incubator |
Brad Bernthal Professor at CU Entrepreneurial Law |
Jerome Rifkin “2010 Inventor of the Year” Founder & CEO Tensegrity Prothetics |
Homer Knearl Patent Attorney |
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| Natalie Tysdal News Anchor FOX 31 KDVR |
Paul Bauer IT Professor & Dept Chair – DU Senior Fellow at the DaVinci Institute |
Tim Miller CEO Rally Software |
Dale Halling Intellectual Property Attorney Halling PC |
Brian Baker Founder Small Planet West |
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| Christine Mahoney Former Anchor 9News Founder of Honk Media |
Brian Tsuchiya Founder of StartupGuru |
Dixie Daly |
Karl Dakin Executive Director Sullivan Chair for Free Enterprise Regis University |
Mike Taylor Editor ColoradoBiz Magazine |
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| Catharine Merigold General Partner Vista Ventures |
Gene Branch Intellectual Property Attorney Perkins Coie |
Michael Miller VP, COO Engage Communication Group |
Michael Moore Rouge Philosopher |
Michael Cushman President Key Change Institute Senior Fellow at the DaVinci Institute |
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| Kevin Anderson Sci-Fi Writer Author of over 100 books |
Anita Edge Founder of Denver Mastermind Group |
Mark Soane Managing Director Appian Ventures |
Richard Hackathorn Founder Bolder Technology Inc |
George Tyler Partner, VP CXO to Go |
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| Ryan Parker Actor & Producer Backyard Genius TV |
Rob Reuteman Freelance Writer Former Business Editor Rocky Mountain News |
Frank Armbruster Inventor and Licensing Expert Founder Colorado Bootstrap, Inc |
Brian Abe Product Scout Evergreen IP |
Mike Casey Radio Show Host 99.5 The Mountain |
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| Heather Lutze Internet Marketing Expert Author of The Findability Formula |
Rod Stambaugh Founder, past CEO Mocapay |
Kevin Weller President & CEO ASAP WebSoft |
Ted Wahler Founder WorldWide Outsource Solutions |
Steve Hirsh Founder Hirsh Precision Products, Inc. |
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| Chris Meyers Co-founder/SVP BizDev/Marketing Meetrix & CEO Chris Incorporated |
Viveka von Rosen Social Media Expert & Speaker |
Brian Schwartz Author of 50 Interviews: Entrepreneurs |
Rich Morrow Founder & CEO quicloud |
Scott Tibbets Executive Director eSpace Incubator |
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| Ingred Elfver Founder Born Celebrity |
Susan Grafton Director of Economic Development, Westminster, CO |
Charles Gray Patent Attorney Kilpatrick Townsend |
Les Juhasz Owner at Liberty International Development |
Cart Pierson Dir Business Development Ernst & Young |
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| Yvonne Lynott Founder Lynott & Assoc. |
Mike Hardaker |
Ron Yeager President DaVinci Quest |
Mark Lusher CEO Omnidant |
Erik Zeitlan Product Designer Lead Consultant at SBDC |
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| Lisa Calkins CEO Amadeus Consulting |
Jim Turner “2007 Inventor of the Year” Founder & CEO Optibike |
Nikki Kayser KGNU News & Public Affairs Producer |
Michael Humecki Principal Larkspur & Associates |
Matt Dombrow CEO and Cofounder Clixo |
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| Fred Mitchell CEO Beacon Biotechnology |
Steve Schmutzer Founder Firefly Medical |
Christie Ward Founder Impact Institute |
Product Scout from QVC |
Michael Gionfriddo VP of Technology Blackhawk Network |
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| Bill McHenry Product Scout Envision Marketing |
Dave McCloskey Founder Superstructs Waba Fun |
Bob Williams Serial Inventor Former United Airlines Pilot |
Robert Kistner President & CEO Energy Planning Consultants Inc. |
Bill Shirley Executive Leadership Coach |
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| Steve Meyers Founder Mainstreet Pedicabs |
Traci Brown Three time US Collegiate Cycling Champion Professional Speaker |
Robert Reich Founder OneRiot Founder Boulder Denver New Tech Meetup |
Gordon Nuttall CEO and Founder Couragent |
Enrique Gutierrez Small Business Ambassador CenturyLink |
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| Bill Miller Founder Dust Off Your Dreams |
Rob Parker aka “Poppy” Technical Adviser Backyard Genius |
Tom Brock CEO Brock Media |
Andrew Novik Electrical Engineer, Time Metrologist, Pop Culture-O-Phile |
Alexia Parks Author, speaker, and columnist for Huffington Post |
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| Jon LaClare Product Scout Sell-on-TV Harvest Growth Partners |
Pat Engstrom Founder of Prana |
Teresa Grobecker Silicon Valley Funding Liason |
Bailey |
Dan Sturges Transportation Designer & Consultant |
Past Winners
Winners of the past DaVinci Inventor Showcases can be seen here.
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Videos
Thomas Frey talking about the upcoming Showcase
Videos of some of the exhibitors at the 2009 Inventor Showcase can be seen here.
