2005 Schoofs Prize for Creativity first place winner. With feedback from Lt. Mike Teff and the Madison Ladder 1 fire station, Nick O'Brien, Mitch Nick and Chandler Nault devised a transmitter-and-receiver system that can help guide firefighters out of smoke-filled buildings. (20K JPG)

2005 Tong Prototype Prize first place and Schoofs Prize for Creativity third place winner. Sean McHone designed the RoboMouse, a remote-controlled lure fish will find hard to resist. The lure can "swim" through the water just like a real rodent. (14K JPG)

The FireSite, a transmitter/receiver system designed to guide firefighters out of smoke-filled buildings, took the $10,000 top prize in the 2005 Schoofs Prize for Creativity, an annual innovation competition held on the UW-Madison campus. College of Engineering students Nick O'Brien, Chandler Nault and Mitch Nick developed their innovation in consultation with the Madison Fire Department. Sean McHone won the $2,500 first-place Tong Prototype Prize and a $4,000 third-place Schoofs Prize award for his invention, RoboMouse; a fishing lure that replicates the appearance and movements of a live animal in the water.

Recent College of Engineering and former Schoofs Prize winners Chad Sorenson and Matt Younkle sponsored two new $1,000 awards this year. The Sorenson Design Notebook Award was presented to Lynn Daul for her work in documenting the "Baseboard Booster" team's innovations. The invention is a collapsing stool that fits in the space behind the baseboard of a cabinet. The "Baseboard Booster" also earned a $7,000, second-place Schoofs Prize award.

The Younkle Best Presentation Award went to Mark Osbeck, Scott Haman, Kyle Larson and Anders Brown for best communicating the unique features and potential market of their innovation, the PortagePro. The team's device is designed to allow travelers on a portage to transfer the load of the canoe to most backpacks. Portage Pro also won the $1,250 second-place Tong Prototype Prize award and a fourth-place $1,000 Schoofs Prize award.

Winners of the 2005 competition were chosen from a field of 17 entries exhibited and displayed during Innovation Days, held Feb. 10 and 11 on the UW-Madison College of Engineering campus. Both competitions award cash prizes to those whose ideas are judged most creative, novel, innovative and likely to succeed in the marketplace.

2005 Schoofs Prize for Creativity second place winner. Lynn Daul, Ben Jaeger, Mark Webb, Dominic Kasten and Natalie Meagher's invention, the Baseboard Booster, is a collapsing stepstool that can fit in the space behind a cabinet baseboard. Lynn Daul also is the Sorenson Design Notebook Award winner. (18K JPG)

2005 Schoofs Prize for Creativity fourth place winner (tie). Tara Jo Schiltz designed the interlocking bowl and tray system for use with a baby's high chair. The system locks the bowl in the tray preventing the child from throwing the bowl to the floor. (20K JPG)

2005 Tong Prototype Prize, second place winner; 2005 Schoofs Prize for Creativity, fourth place winner (tie); and Younkle Best Presentation award. Invented by Mark Osbeck, Scott Haman, Kyle Larson and Anders Brown, PortagePro helps paddlers on a portage transfer the weight of the canoe to their hips, using an attachment that fits any backpack. (20K JPG)

2005 Tong Prototype Prize third place winner. Students Mark Street, Jonathan McCabe, Justin Biesboer, Trenton Kirchdoerfer and Augie Salick invented these human-powered recreational flotation devices, which enable their users to walk on water. (24K JPG)

The complete list of winners is as follows:

Schoofs Prize for Creativity

• First place and $10,000 — Nick OBrien, Chandler Nault and Mitch Nick for "The FireSite:" A transmitter/receiver system designed to guide firefighters out of smoke-filled buildings.
• Second place and $7,000 — Ben Jaeger, Natalie Meagher, Mark Webb, Lynn Daul, Dominic Kasten for the "Baseboard Booster:" A collapsing stool that fits in the space behind the baseboard of a cabinet.
• Third place and $4,000 — Sean McHone for "RoboMouse:" A fishing lure that replicates the appearance and movements of a live animal in the water.
• Fourth place and $1,000 (tie) — Tara Jo Schiltz for "Interlocking Bowl and Tray:" An interlocking bowl and tray system for use with a baby's high chair. The system locks the bowl in the tray preventing the child from throwing the bowl to the floor.
• Fourth place and $1,000 (tie) — Mark Osbeck, Scott Haman, Kyle Larson and Anders Brown for "PortagePro:" A device designed to allow travelers on a portage to transfer the load of the canoe to most backpacks.

Tong Prototype Prize

• First place and $2,500 — Sean McHone for "RoboMouse:" A fishing lure that replicates the appearance and movements of a live animal in the water.
• Second place and $1,250 — Mark Osbeck, Scott Haman, Kyle Larson and Anders Brown for "PortagePro:" A device designed to allow travelers on a portage to transfer the load of the canoe to most backpacks.
• Third place and $700 — Augie Salick, Mark Street, Jonathan McCabe, Justin Biesboer and Trenton Kirchdoerfer for "Aqua Skimmers:" A human-powered recreational device used to walk on water.

The competitions are sponsored by the UW Technology Enterprise Cooperative. The Schoofs Prize is funded by Richard J. Schoofs, who received a bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering in 1953 from UW-Madison. The Tong Prototype Prizes and grants are sponsored by the Tong Family Foundation, including COE alumnus Peter P. Tong, who received his master of science degree in electrical and computer engineering in 1965.

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Copyright 2005 The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System Date last modified: Wednesday, 11-Feb-2004 00:00:00 CST Date created: 11-Feb-2004 Content By: perspective@engr.wisc.edu Thank you for visiting!