Building Georgia’s Future Workforce… and some of its Future Manufacturers

Manufacturing in Georgia accounts for 92.3% of exports, 11.1% of the state’s GDP, and the jobs of approximately 400,000 Georgians. Ranked the number one private industry contributing to economic impact, at $61 billion annually, manufacturing is the backbone of Georgia’s economy. 

While these numbers are impressive, at the Center of Innovation for Manufacturing our mission is to support the growth, prosperity, and global competitiveness of Georgia’s manufacturers. Further growth in Georgia’s manufacturing sector can be achieved in two primary ways. The first is the expansion of existing manufacturing businesses in, or into, Georgia. The second is the creation of new manufacturing companies from Georgia startups born out of the creation of new products that need to be manufactured. 

However, the success of 21st-century manufacturers, whether existing companies or startups, will depend significantly on their ability to innovate and create new products in a rapidly-evolving, technology-dominated, global economy. This places stronger demands on the skillsets of the manufacturing workforce and therefore requires innovative approaches to workforce development at all educational levels. To secure the manufacturing talent pipeline of the future, workforce development programs and activities must foster creativity, entrepreneurial thinking, and the ability to solve complex problems that span multiple disciplines. 

The need for these skillsets are not unique to the manufacturing sector - they are necessary for all 21st-century industries. Enter the faculty-led InVenture Prize innovation competition at Georgia Tech which began in 2009 and is still going strong in 2019.   

Each year the Georgia Tech InVenture Prize offers an opportunity for undergraduate students and recent graduates of Georgia Tech, from any field of study, to create an invention that solves a real-world problem, and then compete for prizes that will help transfer the technology into the marketplace. After participating in a rigorous, multi-round vetting process led by expert judges, six finalists are chosen to vie for bragging rights and prizes in the competition finals, which are held at Georgia Tech and broadcast live on the Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB) network. 

Often referred to as the “American Idol for nerds,” it’s an exhilarating night as teams garner friends, family and supporters to fill the studio audience and shout out their love for their favorite team every time that they have a chance. It’s not uncommon to see team-themed T-shirts, oversized cutouts of team members faces, and a sea of supportive cardboard signs as you look out over the audience.  

"The need for these skillsets are not unique to the manufacturing sector - they are necessary for all 21st-century industries."

The first place winner receives a cash award of $20,000, a free U.S. patent filing by Georgia Tech's Office of Technology Licensing, and automatic acceptance into Georgia Tech’s Create-X Startup Launch program. The second place team receives $10,000 in cash as well as the free U.S. patent filing by Georgia Tech. There is also a third prize that gets both audience members and competitors excited. This is the “People’s Choice” award, which has been proudly sponsored by the Georgia Center of Innovation for Manufacturing (COIM) for the past several years as a way to show our strong support of the InVenture Prize and its impact on manufacturing in our state. The People’s Choice award, which carries a $5,000 cash prize, allows audience members and GPB viewers at home to send a text message or vote online for their favorite team during the event. The winner of the award is announced alongside the first and second place winners of the competition.   

Taking first place in the 2019 InVenture Prize was Ethos Medical, a team that has developed an intuitive, portable, real-time needle guidance system for delivering spinal taps to patients. Second place was garnered by TremorTrainer, who has developed a novel, weighted glove that helps patients suffering from tremors regain some of their fine motor skills, greatly improving their ability to complete everyday tasks that require the use of their hands. The COIM-sponsored People’s Choice award went to team Nix, who has developed an innovative device to help people quit smoking by slowly reducing the amount of nicotine delivered to the user over a period of several weeks until the smoker is inhaling only vapor – without nicotine. The success of the device is attributed to its ability to learn the smokers individual smoking habits and gradually reduce the nicotine level over time in a way that is most comfortable for the user.     

In addition to sponsoring the People’s Choice award, after the competition each year, the Center of Innovation for Manufacturing meets with all six InVenture Prize finalists to assess their challenges and recommend next steps. We also identify and connect teams to the right resources in academia, industry, and government, including our partner Centers of Innovation in Aerospace, Energy, Information Technology, and Logistics, to help them overcome their unique challenges. Our Center’s mission is to help grow Georgia’s manufacturing industry. By supporting the Georgia Tech InVenture Prize we get to have a lot of fun in doing this. We not only support the creation of future manufacturers in Georgia; we also help to build Georgia’s innovative, entrepreneurial workforce of the future.