CL
Charlie Laughlin
  • bioengineering
  • Greensboro

Charlie Laughlin of Greensboro and Clemson University team named finalists in national inventors' competition

2014 Oct 7

Charlie Laughlin of Greensboro and a team of Clemson University students are finalists in the 2014 Collegiate Inventors Competition, honoring the latest in student creativity and innovation.

Laughlin, a bioengineering student, is one of four team members recognized for Insita Pro, an arthroscopic surgical tool to enhance the repair of the rotator cuff.

"Surgeons usually fix a torn shoulder tendon using arthroscopic surgery, working through just a buttonhole-sized incision," said John DesJardins, competition team adviser and associate professor of bioengineering at Clemson. "Insita Pro provides the first standardized method to hold, fold and deliver repair materials through this tiny incision."

The students say the technology will reduce operating times and increase surgical success rates, all at minimal cost.

"The Collegiate Inventors Competition advances the innovative spirit in higher education by recognizing students for their emerging ideas and encouraging them to remain on the path to entrepreneurship," said competition judge and National Inventors Hall of Fame inductee Marcian E. "Ted" Hoff Jr., co-inventor of the microprocessor.

Clemson will compete against student teams from Johns Hopkins University, Harvard University, Columbia University, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

Winners will be announced at the Nov. 17 competition, held annually at the United States Patent and Trademark Office in Alexandria, Virginia. Competitors will have the opportunity to network with some of the nation's foremost innovators while competing for more than $100,000 in cash prizes.