Firefighter lifesaving invention wins top innovation days prize

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.

College of Engineering students Nick O’Brien, Chandler Nault and Mitch Nick developed their innovation in consultation with the Madison Fire Department.

Winners of the 2005 competition were chosen from a field of 17 entries exhibited and displayed during Innovation Days, held Feb. 10-11 on the College of Engineering campus. The competitions are sponsored by the UW Technology Enterprise Cooperative.

During Innovation Days, the Schoofs Prize and the Tong Prototype Prize competitions award cash prizes to those whose ideas are judged most creative, novel, innovative and likely to succeed in the marketplace. 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.

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.

The complete list of winners is as follows:

Schoofs Prize for Creativity

• First place ($10,000) – Nick O’Brien, Chandler Nault and Mitch Nick for “The FireSite,” a transmitter/receiver system designed to guide firefighters out of smoke-filled buildings.
• Second place ($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 ($4,000) – Sean McHone for “RoboMouse,” a fishing lure that replicates the appearance and movements of a live animal in the water.
• Fourth place ($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 ($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 ($2,500) – Sean McHone for “RoboMouse,” a fishing lure that replicates the appearance and movements of a live animal in the water.
• Second place ($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 ($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.