Inventors Bring Their Best Ideas To Inventhelp's Inpex

By Author: Brain Dillon
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INPEX, the country's largest invention trade show, kicked off in Pittsburgh on Wednesday at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center.

idea for an invention

Hosted by InventHelp, the expo allows inventors to make contact with potential distributors, manufacturers and venture capitalists and try to establish a license or sales agreement.

"I'm here to become a millionaire," Maria Van Houe, CEO and inventor of Bedframe Booties said with a laugh. "Isn't that why we are all here?"

Nicole Hait, trade show director of INPEX, said inventors from 30 different countries are represented at this year's expo. Hait said she expects 1,000 to 1,500 business attendees that will walk the floor over the next three days to look for new products.

Inventions range from household gadgets that make everyday life a bit easier to the highly technical. Houe's Bedframe Booties are a decorative padded product that wraps around the foot of a bed to prevent injury if someone were to stub their toe.

Houe, from Chicago, got the idea after her own husband resorted to duct taping ...
... towels around the foot of their bed after stubbing his toe one too many times.

For many of the inventors, they draw on their own life experiences to solve problems.

Armando Rositas, founder and CEO of the Swimming Buddy, got the idea for his product after witnessing a jet ski accident. The Swimming Buddy device attaches to a life jacket and floats above the water to increase visibility.
"To me, this is more than just a product," he said. "To those people that have lost a loved one or had someone injured, you see how maybe with a product like this unfortunate circumstances won't happen again."

Rositas said while he started making the Swimming Buddy for his own grandchildren and neighbors, it has grown. Today the Swimming Buddy retails for $14.99 and is in a number of locations around Michigan and as far away as Miami.

One thing the inventors have in common is they are working toward finding solutions. Whether it is Jan Reinhart, developer of SimplyWonderfold, a product that attaches to a door that allows for a fitted sheet to be easily folded, or Waldemar Kissel, whose Canine Care Products LLC manufacturers footwear suspenders for dogs, each sees a need in the market to fill.

Anthony J. Cesternino, CEO of Wingman Industries Inc., thought a bit bigger with his invention.

"This will do for steel what the steel beam did for the wood beam," he said.

Cesternino presents his Superbeam as the future of structural engineering. The carbon fiber structure can be encased into any building material, increasing strength while decreasing weight. Cesternino said the Superbeam is five-times stronger and 10 times lighter than a standard steel beam.

Hait said the biggest benefit of the expo is that it gives these inventors an opportunity to take their products to the next level. What may have started as an idea at the kitchen table may be the next big seller on QVC.
At the end of the week, three cash prizes will be awarded to inventors ranging from $7,500 for first place to $2,000 for third place.

"The real beauty of this conference to me is that it shows me that the American mind is still working," Rositas said.

InventHelp

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