The Lemelson-MIT Illinois Student Prize, administered by the Technology Entrepreneur Center in the College of Engineering, is awarded on an annual basis to a senior or graduate student who has created or improved a product or process, applied a technology in a new way, redesigned a system, or demonstrated remarkable inventiveness in other ways.

Eligibility Requirements

All senior and graduate students are eligible to compete for the award regardless of college, department, or major.  Students must be enrolled full-time at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign during the academic year in which the award will be presented.

Award Process

Interested students may apply by completing the application form, which can be accessed under the “Apply” tab on this site. Once applications are submitted, a panel of campus-wide alumni and faculty members representing a spectrum of diverse areas of expertise in engineering, science, entrepreneurship, intellectual property protection, and other applicable fields will choose a select group of finalists to be interviewed.  The panel will then select the winner from that group of finalists.

This award is offered in partnership with the Lemelson-MIT Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a non-profit organization that recognizes outstanding inventors, encourages sustainable new solutions to real world problems, and enables and inspires young people to pursue creative lives and careers through invention.