STEM

Invention and Entrepreneurship Programs for K–12 Students Nationwide

A “Shark-Tank” for kids and young adults, the STEMIE Coalition aims to teach invention and startup skills

• By Sri Ravipati
• 06/06/16

A network of more than 30 invention and entrepreneurship programs across the United States announced the launch of The STEMIE Coalition, an initiative to elevate K–12 invention and entrepreneurship education to a national level.

The STEMIE (STEM + Invention + Entrepreneurship) Coalition is based on principles set by the Connecticut Invention Convention that has trained approximately 22,000 students in 250 schools across Connecticut each year, for the last 33 years. The Coalition was launched at its inaugural event, The National Invention Convention/Entrepreneurship Expo (NICEE), held last May in Virginia. NICEE showcased inventions from more than 250 students.

The STEMIE Coalition aims to expand its present affiliates in more than 25 states and bring its “Shark Tank”-like programs to more than 10 million students in the next five years.

“Kids need to be taught more practical problem-solving skills, particularly unstructured problem solving, where you need to look at the world around you, find problems, and work to create solutions,” said Danny Briere, CEO of The STEMIE Coalition, in a prepared statement. “Invention and entrepreneurship can be taught, and The STEMIE Coalition’s goal is to bring that education to students nationwide, providing the knowledge they need to not only create new inventions, but also to build business cases around them and bring them to market. Next to every science fair, there needs to be a mini-Shark Tank, an ‘invention convention’ where students show off their newly minted inventions designed to solve their own — and the world’s — problems.”

Further information about the initiative is available on the STEMIE site