[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/CPRGlove3.jpg” caption=”Corey Centen and Nilesh Patel, inventors of the CPRGlove. File photo.”]It's a first for McMaster. The wearable CPR training, testing and assisting device invented by two electrical and biomedical engineering students is one of 11 inventions selected for the finals of the prestigious Collegiate Inventors Competition. They are the only entry selected from Canada.

Nilesh Patel and Corey Centen will travel to Pasadena, California to present their CPRGlove invention to a blue ribbon panel of judges, which includes Apple computer co-founder Stephan Wozniak on Oct. 31. Competition winners will be announced at an evening awards ceremony at the California Institute of Technology on Nov. 1.

An undergraduate winner and graduate winner will each receive $15,000, and the overall grand prize winner will receive $25,000. Their academic advisors will also receive cash prizes. Dr. Hubert de Bruin, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, is the academic advisor for the CPRGlove.

The Collegiate Inventors Competition is run by the National Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation located in Pasadena, California. It is sponsored by the United States Patent and Trademark Office and the Abbott Fund. This year's group of finalists includes four undergraduate and seven graduate entries.

The process for the 2007 competition began when entries were solicited from campuses to identify top collegiate inventors. Each entry was judged on the originality of the idea, process or technology, as well as its potential value and usefulness to society.

Introduced by the National Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation in 1990, the Collegiate Inventors Competition has awarded over $1 million to nearly 100 students for their innovative work and scientific achievement. For more information about the Collegiate Inventors Competition and past winners, visit www.invent.org/collegiate.