Beyond Academics: Reflect by GMAC Develops Skills for Career Success

New Soft Skills Assessment and Tool from the Graduate Management Admission Council

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Tracey Briggs | Graduate Management Admission Council

(703) 668-9726 | tbriggs@gmac.com

RESTON, Virginia (February 20) — For the past 16 years, college seniors have been told that the most important things they can do for their future are to focus on academics and to get good grades. Although academic performance matters a great deal, the critical element that shapes success in the workplace is what experts call “soft skills”—qualities such as how well you work with others and how well you perform under pressure.

In other words, your career potential is as much about how you work as it is about what you know.

Recent reports from The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and Fast Company have stressed that employers are increasingly evaluating job candidates based on their workplace attitudes and instincts. For instance, a survey analysis featured in Forbes last year noted that failure of new hires within 18 months of starting a job is overwhelmingly due to cultural mismatch or attitude clashes rather than any shortcoming of critical skills.

This emerging consensus among businesses and human resources professionals is why the Graduate Management Admission Council, the non-profit education organization of graduate business schools and developer of the GMAT exam, is launching Reflect by GMAC. Reflect is a personality assessment and personal development tool that offers job seekers a competitive edge by measuring soft skills and providing specially tailored resources that can help test takers make the most of their own talents. Among the personal-professional qualities that Reflect assesses are an individual’s tendencies toward innovation, strategic vision and collaboration.

“For undergraduates applying to graduate school or entering the workforce, Reflect can provide self-awareness that can help them craft their essays or present themselves in an interview,” said Pepe Carreras, GMAC vice president of marketing. “A command of the soft skills Reflect assesses — and helps you improve — is an essential quality both schools and recruiters look for and respond to.”

Schools, like companies, can use Reflect to help them build collaborative teams and cultivate individual talent, but Reflect is designed to be used outside the admissions process.

Self-administered and self-directed, Reflect provides instructive advice tailored to the strengths and needs of individual test takers once they’ve reviewed their results. Upon completing the hour-long assessment, students are presented with actionable tips for self-improvement based on the 10 competencies assessed by the exam. They can use their competency scores as a benchmark to see how they compare with high performers in 14 different career fields.

Reflect also includes three years’ access to a library of articles, book summaries and videos, which can be saved in a personal work plan. The comprehensive suite of resources will help a new generation of leaders nurture their professional strengths, help them navigate potential derailers and showcase their talents in the workplace.

The Reflect self-assessment and tool is available at gmac.com/reflect for $99.99. As students prepare to make the transition from school to workplace, they can get the Reflect advantage: the power of getting where you want to go by knowing who you are.

For more information, contact: Tracey Briggs, tbriggs@gmac.com or 703-668-9726.

About Hogan Assessment Systems: With more than 30 years of experience, Hogan is the global leader in providing comprehensive, research-based personality assessment and consulting. Grounded in decades of science, Hogan helps businesses dramatically reduce turnover and increase productivity by hiring the right people, developing key talent, and evaluating leadership potential.

About GMAC: The Graduate Management Admission Council (gmac.com) is a nonprofit education organization of leading graduate business schools and owner of the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT exam), used by more than 5,700 graduate business and management programs worldwide. GMAC is based in Reston, Virginia, and has regional offices in London, New Delhi and Hong Kong. The GMAT exam—the only standardized test designed expressly for graduate business and management programs worldwide—is continuously available at more than 560 test centers in 110 countries. More information about the GMAT exam is available at mba.com. Please visit gmac.com/newscenter.

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TEACH FOR AMERICA FOUNDER VOTED CHAIR OF THE BOARD

– Teach For America’s COO and President to become co-CEOs –

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Steve Mancini | Teach For America
415.531.5396 | steve.mancini@teachforamerica.org

NEW YORK, NY – February 13, 2013 – In a vote yesterday, the Teach For America Board of Directors named CEO and founder Wendy Kopp as board chair, succeeding Walter Isaacson, who will become chair emeritus after more than seven years as chair. The board also appointed Matt Kramer and Elisa Villanueva Beard co-CEOs of Teach For America, effective March 1. Kopp will continue in her current role as founding CEO of Teach For All, a global network working to expand educational opportunity.

As board chair of Teach For America, Kopp will work closely with Villanueva Beard and Kramer to inform the organization’s strategic direction. She will develop and lead the national board of directors, cultivate external support, and provide advice and counsel to the leadership team.

“Today’s announcement reflects Teach For America’s strength. Our dramatic growth over the past few years calls for more leadership capacity to respond to growing needs and opportunities,” said Isaacson. “We are excited to elevate two proven leaders who have a lot more to contribute and free up our founder to focus on the areas where she can add the most unique value.”

Elisa Villanueva Beard and Matt Kramer have served as senior members of Teach For America’s leadership team for eight years, and this transition is a natural evolution of their existing responsibilities. As co-CEOs, they will be jointly accountable for the organization’s performance and will assume the leadership role in charting its strategic direction, developing its team and culture, building external relationships, and raising public awareness.

Elisa Villanueva Beard will oversee Teach For America’s regional operations and represent the organization publicly. A native of the Rio Grande Valley, Villanueva Beard joined Teach For America in 1998, teaching bilingual first and second grade in Phoenix for three years. She then spent four years as executive director of Teach For America’s Rio Grande Valley region, before joining the national staff as chief operating officer. In that position, she managed Teach For America’s now 46 regions, which are responsible for the placement and development of more than 10,000 corps members, fostering the leadership of their local alumni, and raising 80 percent of Teach For America’s funding.

“Having grown up in the Rio Grande Valley, my life’s work is fighting for educational justice for underserved kids in my hometown and across the country,” said Villanueva Beard. “I am honored to continue this work as co-CEO of Teach For America, an organization that I know has such deep potential to move us toward the day when all children have the opportunity to attain an excellent education. Matt and I look forward to working together to take Teach For America to the next level.”

Matt Kramer will manage all aspects of the central Teach For America structure, including recruiting and admissions, corps member training, administration, development, marketing and communications, and central programmatic support of the regions. Inspired by his wife’s experience as a corps member, Kramer originally joined Teach For America as chief program officer in 2005. He then moved into the role of president, where over the past five years he has helped oversee all aspects of Teach For America’s national operations, from growth and strategy to performance and organizational culture.

“I am thrilled to continue my partnership with Elisa, now as co-CEOs of Teach For America,” said Kramer. “Teach For America plays such an important role in developing the leadership our country needs to live up to our highest ideals, and Elisa and I are eager to continue the hard work of ensuring that all children in our country have the opportunity to reach their full potential. I am also excited that we will continue to benefit from Wendy Kopp’s extraordinary energy and wisdom in her new role as chair of the board.”

To ensure strong governance, the board has created a new role of independent lead director and has appointed Dick Parsons, former CEO and chairman of Time Warner, to this position. As chair of the board’s executive committee, he will help ensure the effectiveness of the board, support the development of the co-CEOs, and provide additional support in cultivating external relationships.

As CEO of Teach For All, Kopp leads a growing global network of independent organizations that, like Teach For America, are enlisting their countries’ most promising future leaders to become lifelong advocates for educational excellence and equality. Now in its sixth year, the Teach For All network includes organizations in 26 countries worldwide. In the coming years, Teach For All aims to build support for the growth of the network and its partners, and to accelerate the growth and progress of its partners by fostering learning, sharing, and innovation.

“It has been my privilege to serve as CEO of both Teach For America and Teach For All for more than five years,” said Kopp. “Today’s announcement helps ensure that each organization has the leadership capacity necessary to meet growing aspirations. Elisa and Matt are exceptional leaders and great partners. They have already contributed immeasurably to Teach For America’s growth and impact and I look forward to supporting them as they lead Teach For America into the future.”

About Teach For America
Teach For America works in partnership with communities to expand educational opportunity for children facing the challenges of poverty. Founded in 1990, Teach For America recruits and develops a diverse corps of outstanding individuals of all academic disciplines to commit two years to teach in high-need schools and become lifelong leaders in the movement to end educational inequity. Today more than 10,000 corps members are teaching in 46 urban and rural regions across the country, while nearly 28,000 alumni are working across sectors to ensure that all children have access to an excellent education. For more information, visit http://www.teachforamerica.org/ and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

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U.S. FDA APPROVES BAYER’S SKYLA™ (LEVONORGESTREL-RELEASING INTRAUTERINE SYSTEM) 13.5 mg FOR PREVENTION OF PREGNANCY FOR UP TO THREE YEARS

First new IUD (intrauterine device) to enter market in more than a decade 
Approval of Skyla expands Bayer’s IUD portfolio

Wayne, NJ, January 29, 2013 - Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals Inc. recently announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Skyla™ (levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system) 13.5 mg, a new hormone-releasing system that is placed in the uterus for the prevention of pregnancy for up to three years.¹

“Research shows that nearly 50 percent of pregnancies in the U.S. are unintended,² which emphasizes the need for increased education and access to effective birth control options,” said Anita L. Nelson, M.D., Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, CA. “Skyla is more than 99 percent effective at preventing pregnancy and may be appropriate for women who want a birth control method that they do not have to take daily. Further, Skyla may be used by women whether or not they have ever had a child, representing an important new choice for women who don’t want to become pregnant for up to three years.”

Skyla is a small, flexible plastic T-shaped device containing 13.5 mg of a progestin hormone called levonorgestrel. The size of the Skyla T-body is 28mm x 30mm and the outer diameter of the placement tube is 3.8mm. Because Skyla slowly releases levonorgestrel into the uterus, only small amounts of the hormone enter the blood. During the first three to six months of using Skyla, women may experience irregular periods and an increase in the number of bleeding days. Women may also have frequent spotting or light bleeding. Some women may have heavy bleeding during this time. After using Skyla for a while, the number of bleeding and spotting days is likely to lessen, and there is a small chance that periods may stop altogether.^1,3

Women can have Skyla placed by a healthcare provider during an in-office visit. Skyla is intended for long-term use for up to three years but may be removed by a healthcare provider at any time. Women could become pregnant as soon as Skyla is removed, so they should use another method of birth control if they do not want to become pregnant. About 77% of women who want to become pregnant will become pregnant sometime in the first year after Skyla is removed.³

“The approval of Skyla expands Bayer’s IUD portfolio and highlights our continued commitment to empower women with a variety of birth control options at different reproductive stages of their lives,” said Pamela A. Cyrus, M.D., Vice President and Head of U.S. Medical Affairs, Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals. “We are pleased to bring the first new IUD to market in the U.S. in 12 years, and to provide women who are seeking contraception with an important new and effective option to consider with their healthcare providers.”

Skyla (levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system) 13.5 mg will be available by prescription the week of February 11.

About the Clinical Trial for Skyla¹

The approval of Skyla is supported by data from a Phase 3 trial that included 1,432 women aged 18-35 who received Skyla, of which 38.8% (556) had not yet had a child. The trial was a multicenter, multinational, randomized open-label study conducted in 11 countries in Europe, Latin America, the U.S. and Canada. Women less than six weeks postpartum, with a history of ectopic pregnancy, with clinically significant ovarian cysts or with HIV or otherwise at high risk for sexually transmitted infections were excluded from the trial.

The pregnancy rate calculated as the Pearl Index (PI) in women aged 18-35 years was the primary efficacy endpoint used to assess contraceptive reliability. The PI was calculated based on 28-day equivalent exposure cycles; evaluable cycles excluded those in which back-up contraception was used unless a pregnancy occurred in that cycle. Skyla-treated women provided 15,763 evaluable 28-day cycle equivalents in the first year and 39,368 evaluable cycles over the three-year treatment period. The PI estimate for the first year of use based on the five pregnancies that occurred after the onset of treatment and within seven days after Skyla removal or expulsion was 0.41 with a 95% upper confidence limit of 0.96. The cumulative three-year pregnancy rate, based on 10 pregnancies, estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method was 0.9 per 100 women or 0.9%, with a 95% upper confidence limit of 1.7%.

Of Skyla-treated women, 21.9% discontinued the study treatment due to an adverse event. Most common adverse reactions (occurring in 5% users) were vulvovaginitis (20.2%), abdominal/pelvic pain (18.9%), acne/seborrhea (15.0%), ovarian cyst (13.2%), headache (12.4%), dysmenorrhea (8.6%), breast pain/discomfort (8.6%), increased bleeding (7.8%) and nausea (5.5%).

Other serious adverse reactions were also observed, including ectopic/intrauterine pregnancy, life-threatening infections, pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), perforation and expulsion.

Important Safety Information for Skyla (levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system) 13.5 mg

If you have a pelvic infection, get infections easily, or have certain cancers, don’t use Skyla. Less than 1% of users get a serious infection called pelvic inflammatory disease.

If you have persistent pelvic or stomach pain or if Skyla comes out, tell your doctor. If Skyla comes out, use back-up birth control. Skyla may attach to or go through the uterus and cause other problems.

Pregnancy while using Skyla is uncommon but can be life threatening and may result in loss of pregnancy or fertility. Ovarian cysts may occur but usually disappear.

Bleeding and spotting may increase in the first few months, and remain irregular. Over time, periods are likely to become shorter and lighter, or may stop.

Skyla does not protect against HIV or STDs.

Only you and your healthcare provider can decide if Skyla is right for you. Skyla is available by prescription only.

You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch, or call 1-800-FDA-1088.

For additional information about Skyla, please see full prescribing information at www.skyla-us.com.

About Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals Inc. 

Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals Inc. is the U.S.-based pharmaceuticals business of Bayer HealthCare LLC, a subsidiary of Bayer AG. Bayer HealthCare is one of the world’s leading, innovative companies in the healthcare and medical products industry, and combines the activities of the Animal Health, Consumer Care, Diabetes Care, and Pharmaceuticals divisions. As a specialty pharmaceutical company, Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals provides products for Diagnostic Imaging, General Medicine, Hematology, Neurology, Oncology and Women’s Healthcare. The company’s aim is to discover and manufacture products that will improve human health worldwide by diagnosing, preventing and treating diseases.

# # #

BAYER_® and the Bayer Cross_® are registered trademarks of Bayer. Skyla is a trademark of Bayer.

Media Contact:

Marcy Funk, Tel. +1 (973) 305 5385
E-Mail: marcy.funk@bayer.com

Forward-Looking Statement
This news release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Bayer Group or subgroup management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. These factors include those discussed in Bayer’s public reports which are available on the Bayer website at www.bayer.com. The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.

1 Skyla Prescribing Information, January 2013

2 Mosher WD, Jones J. Use of contraception in the United States: 1982–2008. National Center for Health Statistics. Vital Health Stat 23(29). 2010. “Introduction” Available at www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_23/sr23_029.pdf. Accessed on 1/2/13.

3 Skyla Patient Prescribing Information, January 2013

Site provides unparalleled access to thousands of the best free online college-planning resources and thousands of free course offerings and lectures from hundreds of universities

EVANSTON, ILL., January 22, 2013 - What is a MOOC? What were the top jobs offered to graduates last year? Who earns more college degrees: men or women? Find answers to these questions and more at UniversitySpot.com, a comprehensive new website that provides easy access to thousands of the best online higher-education resources for students, counselors, professors and lifetime learners.

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Enhance classroom learning with thousands of free lectures, course offerings and seminars

UniversitySpot.com offers easy access to an extensive assortment of exceptional, freely available course material and lectures: literally thousands offered online by colleges and universities, including many of the best in the world.

• Prepare for the GRE with Revised GRE Quantitative/Math by Quantum GRE at Udemy
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

First umbrella that enables texting and e-mailing in the rain

CHICAGO, May 23 – Rainy days just became fun with the introduction of the Brolly™, a very affordable (less than $20 retail) small umbrella, that hopes to supplant the bigger and behemoth-sized umbrellas with a very unique finger hole grip.

The grip literally removes the danger of losing control of the umbrella in really foul weather, which can be prevalent in the Windy City.  At the same time, it (grip) allows the holder to text/e-mail on your mobile phone in the rain with a certain degree of security and sturdiness.  The Brolly, available in blue and black and green and black — is compact, stylish and comfortable to hold onto.

“We wanted to create a rain umbrella that was easy to hold and offered a superior level of durability. Rain umbrellas do a decent job of keeping people dry in the rain, but they are often uncomfortable to hold and fall apart after a few uses,” said Greg Edson, president of Brollytime Inc., the Chicago-based company that created and built The Brolly.

With its patent-pending finger hole grip, the Brolly puts your hand in full control of the rain umbrella, making it nearly impossible for you to lose your grip or grasp. Durability is the keystone of the umbrella. Its ribs are reinforced with fiberglass to handle strong winds and the frame consists of steel and aluminum. Even little things, like plastic around the umbrella tips, were incorporated to prevent people from being poked in the eye with metal tips.

You can buy the Brolly rain umbrella online and at select local retailers throughout the U.S.  The price-tag alone makes it affordable for anyone to own and it’s anything but another low-priced rain umbrella.

“It’s time to redefine the rain umbrella industry by offering  a high quality, low cost rain umbrella that is a conversation starter no matter where you go,” said Edson. “The Brolly gives you an extra hand to do things that are impossible to do with traditional rain umbrellas.

“We are excited to release the Brolly rain umbrella to the world and hope consumers enjoy using it, as much as we enjoyed bringing it from concept to life. We have put our best hand forward with this rain umbrella invention — literally.”

About Brollytime Inc.

Brollytime Inc. is a Chicago, IL-based business that developed The Brolly rain umbrella to create the most comfortable, fashion-forward and durable rain umbrella. The Brolly rain umbrella has a patent pending finger hole grip design to make the umbrella easy to hold and enable people to multi-task even when standing in the rain. For more information, please visit www.brollytime.com.

Contact

Andrew Edson & Associates, Inc.
Andrew Edson, 516.850.3195
Andrew@edsonpr.com
www.edsonpr.com

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BOSTON, January 10, 2013 - Boundless — the free alternative to traditional textbooks — announces major additions to its free textbooks library and improved study tools for the new collegiate semester. Using free, openly-licensed content Boundless creates digital books that align to students’ assigned readings — making education more affordable, accessible and effective.

“I’m proud to announce that students at over half the colleges in the US have used Boundless,” said Ariel Diaz, co-founder and CEO of Boundless. “This year, we expect that number to continue to grow, as we’ve more than doubled the number of subjects that we offer and built a suite of features that go way beyond traditional textbooks. Most importantly, 88% of students who used our textbooks last semester are likely to go Boundless again and 95% of our users achieved the grade they expected — or did better!”

Textbooks remain the core content for most courses in higher education, with over 80% of the market controlled by the top four publishers. These publishers have continued to raise prices for this stagnant product in the face of innovation in every other information related industry, growing at a rate of 3 times inflation.

The Boundless free textbooks not only save students money, but go far beyond what traditional textbooks offer. Boundless creates a beautiful e-reading experience that makes it easy to highlight and make notes directly on its digital content. As students make annotations on their readings, they are aggregated into an interactive notebook. Key features of the Boundless textbook that go beyond traditional textbooks include:

• Shareable Study Guides for individual and group study sessions
• Notebooks that are autogenerated as students highlight important text and figures
• Boundless SmartNotes that summarize important topics, perfect for exam prep or studying in a flash
• Self-assessment tools, like pre-made flashcards and quizzes, for students to test their knowledge before exams and classes
• New, unaligned textbooks, combining the best the web has to offer in subjects such as biology, history and marketing
• Mobile, HTML 5, website optimized for studying on any device so students can study anywhere.

Students at more than 2,000 colleges in the U.S. are turning to Boundless for free, effective tools for learning. See why students are ditching their textbooks and saving hundreds of dollars by visiting www.boundless.com/.

About Boundless
Boundless is the only free alternative to expensive textbooks. Boundless creates free online textbooks and study tools for students using the wealth of high quality, openly licensed educational content available online. Learn more at www.boundless.com/.

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Contact:
Ariel Diaz, CEO, ariel@boundless.com
Phone: 617-500-7225

WASHINGTON, January 9, 2013 – The Global Grand Challenges Summit is a major new initiative by the national academies of engineering in the UK, the US, and China. The summit will bring together leading international thinkers and innovators to explore new approaches to solving some of the most pressing challenges of the 21st century, on themes ranging from sustainability to health care, from driving growth and employment to protecting our planet.

In conjunction with the Global Grand Challenges Summit, each of the academies is running a short video competition for entrants 18-27 years old in the US, the UK, and China. Each competition will have its own judging process and prizes. Each academy will select its own competition winner to be screened at the Global Grand Challenges Summit in London, UK on March 12-13 2013. The winning contestants (maximum of two representatives per video) will be invited as guests to the Summit.

This short video competition is calling for creative entrants to produce a video highlighting the importance of engineering and how engineers can collaborate with other professions to solve (a) one of the challenges articulated by the National Academy of Engineering in its NAE Grand Challenges for Engineering program or (b) a challenge within one of the related Summit themes: Sustainability, Education, Enriching Life, Technology and Growth, Resilience.

The video should include data that supports ideas presented.

The competition is open to short videos (no longer than two minutes) of all production techniques and genres, such as drama, animation, documentary, experimental or artist video, and hybrid work. The video may be shot with a full crew or with a mobile phone, it may be serious or amusing. However you choose to produce your video, it should be thought provoking.

Eligible entries, whether selected as a winner or not, may be made available through the Global Grand Challenges Summit’s dedicated YouTube/Vimeo channel.

Deadline for submissions is midnight February 3, 2013, EST.

• Rules and Entry Procedures
• Video Submission Form

The National Academy of Engineering is an independent, nonprofit institution. Its members consist of the nation’s premier engineers, who are elected by their peers for seminal contributions to engineering. The academy provides leadership and guidance to government on the application of engineering resources to social, economic, and security problems. Established in 1964, NAE operates under the congressional charter granted to the National Academy of Sciences in 1863.

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WASHINGTON, January 9, 2013 – Students pursuing degrees toward careers in health, engineering, and computer science could earn a distinctive addition to their resumes by participating in “Go Viral to Improve Health,” a contest that challenges undergraduate and graduate students to create innovative health-related apps and offers $18,000 in prizes.

“Go Viral to Improve Health” is the third annual collegiate challenge sponsored by the Institute of Medicine and National Academy of Engineering to inspire students to work in interdisciplinary teams and transform health data into mobile apps, online tools or games, or other innovative products that solve vexing health problems.

The top prize is $10,000, sponsored by Heritage Provider Network. The second and third place teams will receive awards of $5,000 and $3,000, respectively. Entries will be assessed on their design, usability, and how well they integrate public health data.

Participating teams must consist of between two and five undergraduate and/or graduate students. Multidisciplinary teams including students in health-related fields and computer science/engineering are especially encouraged. Teams must use at least one publicly available, de-identified data set to develop their app. Additional eligibility criteria and terms are spelled out at www.iom.edu/goviral.

Students must register their teams for the challenge by Feb. 27, 2013. Once registered, teams have until 5 p.m. EST on April 17 to submit their apps. Further details about “Go Viral to Improve Health” can be found at www.iom.edu/goviral and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/goviraltoimprovehealth. Questions can be directed to goviral@nas.edu.

The Institute of Medicine and National Academy of Engineering along with the National Academy of Sciences and National Research Council make up the National Academies. They are private and independent nonprofit institutions that provide science, technology, and health policy advice under a congressional charter granted to NAS in 1863. For more information, visit www.national-academies.org.

Heritage Provider Network Inc. is one of the largest physicians’ groups in the United States, providing medical care to approximately 700,000 individuals. It is on the cutting edge of the accountable care model of health care delivery and is dedicated to quality, affordable health care and putting patients’ wellness first. For more information, visit www.heritageprovidernetwork.com.

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For immediate release 
CONTACT:
Allison Gumbs
LifeShield Security
agumbs@lifeshield.com
267-907-9779

LifeShield Puts Campus Crime Prevention in the Hands of Smart Students with FREE Kindle Fire

LifeShield + Kindle Fire Holiday Special Kicks Off on Black Friday, November 23rd

LANGHORNE, Pa., November 21, 2012 – LifeShield Security is giving students TWO GIFTS for the price of one this holiday season. Beginning Black Friday, November 23, college students or their parents who purchase a LifeShield wireless security system by calling 877-475-4839 can receive a FREE 7″ Kindle Fire to use both for fun and to monitor and control their LifeShield system with a free LifeShield security app.

Students are often the victims of crimes on campus for a variety of reasons, including careless roommates, unsecure apartments, and neighborhood crime. Students are often clueless about security because it is something their parents handle when they are at home. As the home security experts, LifeShield is committed to helping students stay safe by helping them secure their own living spaces. Teaching students smart security habits will help them remain safe their entire lives.

“To gift a LifeShield system, whether it’s to yourself or your child, you’re giving the gift of security and peace of mind to that person, and what could be better than that?” added Shannon Dominello, CMO, LifeShield. “Once customers activate their LifeShield system, they will receive their Kindle Fire, and can choose to either keep it, or gift it to someone else.”

Campus security and police can only investigate after a crime has been committed. Every student needs to take an active role in preventing crimes before they happen. Using technology such as wireless sensors, high-speed internet, and mobile apps, students can get better security protection than the expensive wired systems found in many homes. LifeShield home alarm systems offer unlimited text and email alerts to keep students and their roommates informed of dorm room security.

LifeShield wireless security systems are perfect for students, renters and others who move frequently. The system is portable, allowing students to install the system themselves in less than an hour, take it down, and re-install it in their next dorm or apartment as needed. Free LifeShield apps make it easy for anyone to access and use their security system from iPhones, iPads, and Android phones and tablets. Students can also log in to the secure website to use their system at any time, no matter where they are in the world.

Order a security system from LifeShield by calling 877-475-4839. If customers prefer to receive their Kindle in time for Christmas, orders must be received by December 10th.

About LifeShield Security

LifeShield Security is the first national, professional grade and professionally monitored wireless security system that uses an easy to set-up “plug and protect” process, providing superior home protection and the best value in total home security. For more on LifeShield home security systems, visit www.lifeshield.com.

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For immediate release 
CONTACT: Rini Paiva, 330.388.6160, rpaiva@invent.org

Collegiate Inventors Competition® Awards more than $100,000 to Winners for their Inventions

WASHINGTON, November 13, 2012 - Recognizing the innovative ideas of today’s college and university students, the 2012 Collegiate Inventors Competition, a program of Invent Now, today announced that a novel delivery therapy for treating cancer and a way to facilitate suturing in abdominal surgery have won top prizes during the Competition’s culminating ceremony at the Newseum in Washington, D.C.

Inanc Ortac of the University of California, San Diego received the $15,000 graduate first prize for his invention of Nano-Wiffle-Balls for Cancer Therapy, and Leslie Myint, Daniel Peng, Andy Tu, and Stephen Van Kooten received the $12,500 undergraduate first prize for their work with the FastStitch suturing device. The Competition is sponsored by the Abbott Fund, the non-profit foundation of the global health care company Abbott, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The Competition is also a featured event of Global Entrepreneurship Week 2012, a worldwide celebration of creativity, innovation, and ingenuity, founded by the Kauffman Foundation and designed to inspire entrepreneurial thinking and encourage entrepreneurs to launch new ventures.

Graduate student Brett Walker of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign received second prize for his work, and Tamer Badawy of Wayne State University received third prize. Undergraduate student Eric Ronning of the University of Wisconsin is the second prize winner in his category, and Riley Csernica, Meredith Donaldson, Chelsea Ex-Lubeskie, and Kaitlin Grove of Clemson University received undergraduate third prize. Walker was recognized for his Reactive Silver Inks and received $12,500, and Badawy was recognized for his Autonomous Operation of Internal Combustion Engines on a Multitude of Fuels and received $10,000. In the undergraduate category, Ronning received $10,000 for ReHand, his new approach to a prosthetic hand, and the Clemson team received $7,500 for their Hi-Impact Shoulder Stabilization Device.

“The inventions chosen for this year’s Collegiate Invention Competition are a testament to our nation’s bright, young innovators,” said Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO David Kappos. “These students embody a true spirit of entrepreneurship and continue to strengthen our belief in America’s future.”

Experts from industry, government, and academic research initially judged student entries on the originality of the idea and the potential value and usefulness to society. On November 12th, seven undergraduate finalist teams met with a panel of judges, as did seven graduate finalist teams, presenting their innovative advances in areas such as medical devices, cancer therapies, avionics, and engineering. Both panels included Inductees of the National Inventors Hall of Fame: Don Bateman (aircraft safety systems), Thomas Fogarty (embolectomy catheter), Marcian Hoff (microprocessor), Alois Langer (implantable defibrillator), Don Keck (optical fiber), Steve Sasson (digital camera), Gary Starkweather (laser printer), and James West (electret microphone). In addition, the panels include representatives from the USPTO, the Kauffman Foundation, and Abbott.

“The Collegiate Inventors Competition champions are the pioneers and role models of their generation in science, engineering and technology,” said Donald Halbert, Divisional Vice President and Site Head for the Abbott Biotherapeutics Corporation. “By highlighting the accomplishments of these young inventors, we hope to foster a better understanding of the importance of science and innovation in our lives.”

“The Collegiate Inventors Competition recognizes outstanding achievement,” said Thom Ruhe, Vice President of Entrepreneurship at the Kauffman Foundation. “Through recognition and encouragement, this new generation of young scientists and aspiring entrepreneurs will become tomorrow’s leaders, generating economic impact as they develop their inventions. We are pleased to be a part of that recognition and to have the Competition itself as a featured event of Global Entrepreneurship Week.”

In addition to the Competition being a part of Global Entrepreneurship Week, the Competition finalists also are being given the opportunity to meet with Dr. John Holdren, Assistant to President Obama for Science and Technology and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and Todd Park, the United States Chief Technology Officer. The meeting further emphasizes the importance of the innovative and entrepreneurial endeavors undertaken by this group who have the potential to positively influence and advance the future of our society.

First prize graduate winner Ortac’s approach offers a versatile therapeutic strategy based on hiding and protecting otherwise immunogenic non-human enzymes from the immune system and their delivery to the target. He does this by fabricating what he calls “nano-wiffle-balls” out of silica and hiding enzymes within, then enclosing the wiffle balls with a second layer, trapping the enzymes, but leaving holes for other compounds to pass through. A non-toxic substance can be delivered systemically through the body, and activated by the enzymes inside the wiffle balls at the treatment site. In this way, therapy can potentially be applied to the majority of cancers including blood cancers, solid tumors, and metastic lesions with application-specific modifications. The Johns Hopkins first prize undergraduate winners have invented a plier-like device that can drive and transfer a needle across its jaw, intended to provide improved fascia closure during abdominal surgery. With this device, the team hopes that surgeons will be able to close the fibrous tissue layer more easily and safely, allowing for less post-operative complications such as herniation or bowel injury from needle stick. Their company, Archon Medical, hopes to successfully market their product.

Graduate student Walker recognized that silver-based inks are the heart of the printed electronics industry, but that they are also difficult and expensive to manufacture. His reactive silver inks are particle-free, can be patterned through fine nozzles, and are extremely simple to make, resulting in high yields and increased performance for lower cost. Student Badawy’s invention enables electronically controlled combustion engines to operate effectively on fuels of different physical and chemical properties. The state of the art technology autonomously readjusts engine systems based on a combustion sensor to achieve goals in power, fuel economy, and reduced emission.

In the Undergraduate category, second prize winner Ronning uses CT scanning and 3-D printing technology to replicate an amputee’s lost hand. In addition to using 3-D printing, the hand utilizes a unique differential pulley system to control the force of the hand’s grip, as well as providing an opposable thumb. The third prize Clemson team’s shoulder brace is a self-applicable, low-profile brace designed for athletes who have experienced an anterior shoulder dislocation. The brace provides compressive support to the glenohumeral joint during activity to aid in prevention of secondary dislocations while still allowing athletes to perform at a high level.

The Collegiate Inventors Competition has awarded more than $1 million to winning students over the last 21 years for their innovative work and scientific achievement through the help of its sponsors. This year’s finalists’ inventions included a rewritable and non-volatile data-storage device operating in living cells, an augmented altimeter to alert pilots to the danger of wake turbulence, and a new type of omnidirectional electric motorcycle that maneuvers on spheres instead of traditional wheels, among others.

About the Collegiate Inventors Competition
Invent Now, originally founded as the National Inventors Hall of Fame, looks for new and creative ways to spread the inventive spirit, developing a range of creative products, programs, and innovative partnerships that emphasize the importance of invention in society. It created the Collegiate Inventors Competition to promote innovation by recognizing inventors and scientists early in their careers and rewarding students’ often pioneering ideas as they address the problems of today’s world. Past finalists and winners have gone on to start their own companies based on their inventions, win prestigious fellowships and grants and receive national attention for their work. Introduced in 1990, this is the 21st year of the program. For more information on the Competition and past winners, visit www.invent.org/collegiate.

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