A team of former and current biomedical engineering students from UW–Madison won first place at a national collegiate inventors competition with a combination forceps-scalpel instrument, according to the Wisconsin State Journal. The “Nerve Ninja” earned Lauren Fitzsimmons, Molly Paras, and Zach Spears a $10,000 prize and an accelerated patent process.
The device was originally developed by a group of eight students in a spring 2023 biomedical engineering class. Following their completion of the class objective to create a working prototype, the students were barred from continuing work on the device; however, Fitzsimmons, Paras, and Spears continued development outside of class and pursued information on incorporating a business and filing for a provisional patent.
Members of the National Inventors Hall of Fame served as judges for the competition. This year marked the first in 12 that a UW–Madison team qualified among the top five undergraduate finalists.
