OMAHA, Nebraska (November 27, 2024)—UNeMed will again sponsor a “Back-o-the-Napkin” contest, calling for any inventive faculty, staff or student at UNMC or UNO to submit their ideas for new inventions and better ideas.
A suitable entry could be a simple solution created to solve a clinical or translational research problem, whether it’s a line of software code, a possible new molecule or a medical device.
The deadline for entries is January 31.
All novel entries will be judged by an internal committee, and evaluated for their novelty, market potential and possible intellectual property protection. Top entries with the most viable path to commercial success will win additional development and financial support.
Digital entry forms have been provided to all the clinical departments across UNMC, but entry forms may also be downloaded here. Physical versions of the entry form are available upon request. Designed to resemble actual napkins, entry forms ask that inventors draw and describe their ideas.
All submissions will then be evaluated for the novelty, commercial potential and marketability. The winners will receive additional support for further development.
Previous winners include:
- Wearable Pinch Ligation Device— Quan Ly, MD, & Meghana Kashyap, MD, UNMC College of Medicine, Surgery Division.
- Single Laser Measurement Device for Jump Testing—Michael Rosenthal, DSc, Elizabeth Wellsandt, DPT, PhD, and Michael Wellsandt, DPT, UNMC, College of Allied Health.
- Beam Helmet—Elizabeth Beam, PhD, assistant professor, UNMC College of Nursing
- Light Pipe Retinal Viewer—Pukraj Rishi, UNMC College of Medicine, Ophthalmology.
- Energy-harvesting Exoskeleton—Sara Myers, UNO Biomechanics
Co-sponsors are the Great Plains IDeA-CTR; the James and Karen Linder Maker Studio at UNMC’s McGoogan Library; the UNO Machining and Prototyping Core in the Dept of Biomechanics; and The UNeTech Institute.
