Linda Hall Library is pleased to announce the student winners for its annual Kansas City Invention Convention (KCIC) competition and awards ceremony. This year, seven students from the local competition will head to The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan for the Raytheon Technologies Invention Convention U.S. Nationals.

• Grayson Moyer, senior, Blue Valley CAPS: Stream Cooler
• Gabriella Campbell, Isabel Glover, and Charlotte Hamilton, sophomores, St. Teresa's Academy: Spoiler Alert
• Gabriel Brooks and Anna Tiedt, eighth grade, St. Paul's Episcopal Day School: Recycle Pro
• Will Korus, sixth grade, Shawnee Heights Elementary Gifted Program: CatGuard

“These students brought amazing inventions to the competition this year. Their hard work is a testament to efforts we’ve seen from their teachers and mentors throughout our local schools,” said Matt Reeves, Linda Hall Library’s Public Program Manager. “This year’s KCIC showcase had more than triple the entries we had last year, and we saw incredible creativity and critical problem-solving from the students. We’re proud to sponsor these seven students to compete at a national level in June and couldn’t be more excited to see where their inventions take them next.” 

This April, more than 230 Kansas City area students from 13 schools competed in the KCIC competition. Hosted by Linda Hall Library, the event encourages Kansas City-area students to develop their ideas into real inventions that people can use to solve everyday problems. Ahead of the event, KCIC provides participating educators with access to resources, workshops, and mentors to guide their students through the invention process.   

The 2023 KCIC showcase winners in the eleventh and twelfth grade categories were Grayson Moyer for their invention, Stream Cooler (first place); Charlie Olm-Shipman for their invention Snowpack (second place); and John Beemer for their invention, Trailer Buddy (third place). All three eleventh and twelfth grade winners are from the Blue Valley Center for Advanced Professional Studies (CAPS) under the instruction of Entrepreneur-In-Residence Mike Farmer. The best-of-show invention, Stream Cooler, is a Bluetooth-capable television in a cooler, a one-stop, portable entertainment unit that combines traditional hard-wall coolers with entertainment features.

The ninth and tenth grade showcase winners were Gabriella Campbell, Isabel Glover and Charlotte Hamilton for their invention, Spoiler Alert (first place); Hudson Caldwell and Ella Janssen for their invention, Kitty Keep Away (second place); and Eve Szylleyko for their invention, Super Plastic Elimination from Water Environments (third place). All ninth and tenth grade winners are from St. Teresa’s Academy under the instruction of their science teacher Mary Montag.

The seventh and eighth grade winners were Gabriel Brooks and Anna Tiedt for their invention, Recycle Pro (first place); Aubrey Massoth for their invention, Brain Bop (second place); and Lucille Herrold and Kendall Young for their invention, Fresh Fridge (third place). Gabriel Brooks and Anna Tiedt are from St. Paul’s Episcopal Day School under the instruction of Shari Brundige and Kelly Van Maren. Aubrey Lucille Herrold and Kendall Young are from John Paul II Catholic School under the instruction of Peggy Kelly. Competitors from the convention collectively awarded the Convention’s Choice award to Sophie Gouttierre, Taylor Lewellen, Harper McGee, and Molly Kate Trenkle from St. Paul’s Episcopal Day School for their invention, The Dropper Stopper.

Winners for the fifth and sixth grade competition, the youngest group, were Will Korus for their invention, CatGuard (first place); Will Hennenfent for their invention, Mobile Meds (second place); and Ikenna Imokhome for their invention, Carbon Cadet 2000 (third place).

In addition to the judges' awards, title sponsor Kansas City National Security Campus managed by Honeywell FM&T awarded the Future Shaper award to Charlie Olm-Shipman for his invention, Snowpack; the Most Patentable award to Gabriella Campbell, Isabel Glover, and Charlotte Hamilton for their invention, Spoiler Alert; and the Early Innovator awards to Gabriel Brooks and Anna Tiedt for their invention, Recycle Pro and Will Korus for their invention, CatGaurd.