Inventors Gather at MIT

About 50 inventors gathered at MIT last weekend for the 14th annual Inventors Weekend to showcase new technologies ranging from coupon-cutting knives to new computer software.

The convention, hosted by the non-profit organization Inventors Association of New England, attracted inventors from throughout New England to promote their products, meet with potential investors and manufacturers, and gauge public response.

According to Peter M. Delaney, chair of Inventors Weekend, the convention offered guidance to new inventors who are not sure of where to turn with their completed product.

It also gave the public the opportunity "to enjoy others' creativity and to realize that they, too, have creative potential and the ability to invent and succeed," Delaney said.

There were 46 showcase booths at the convention, with inventions ranging from car window defrosters to beach slides for babies. There were also five booths devoted to serving the needs of the inventors, including booths to secure patents.

'Swift-Answer'

Pal Asija, a Connecticut inventor, attended the conference in order to gauge public reaction to his invention, "Swift-Answer," which is a combined spell checker and grammar checker. The software, designed for "people who make mistakes," converts blatant errors into understandable prose, according to Asija.

Alison Martin, another inventor, presented the "3-D Viewer," which allows a person to view photographs through a a special viewer in three dimensions.

In addition to showcasing new inventions, the convention named Dr. Joseph L. Horner Inventor of the Year for his 25 years of internationally acclaimed work.

Horner, an international authority in optics, has received four consecutive Scientific Achievement Awards based on his work on phase-only filters and optical correlators.

The Academy of Applied Science co-sponsored the convention with MIT, which has provided the meeting rooms for the association since the organization's inception.