Badger Venture winners earn third-place honors at state InventOR competition

Two Klamath Community College student entrepreneur teams attended the statewide InventOR competition for young inventors — one of which came away with a third-place win and the other accepted as a wild card entry in the competition. The event was held at the University of Portland June 26-27 where the teams faced off against 20 other teams from colleges and universities.

The team of Fire Stoppers, comprising former students Melanie McClure, Niles Walter and Ashley Mayes designed a fine mesh vent insert for foundations of homes that prevents wildfire ash from blowing through the openings and setting the home on fire.

“Many homes catch fire during a wildfire because of embers in the air that are blown into the home,” said Walter. His family has a home near the Sprague River and when the Copperfield Fire raged nearby in September of 2024, Walter started tinkering with ideas on how to prevent a home from burning. His dad, Matt Walter, is the recently retire KCC welding department program lead, and coached them on the prototype’s construction.

The Team underwest 3 hours of questioning by various judges.

“We did all the defensible space things, but there really wasn’t anything very effective to protect a home from embers getting in it,” Niles Walter said.

“Embers can travel up to seven miles from a wildfire,” McClure said. “It is one of the reasons that entire blocks of homes burn to the ground. The thought of losing your home and everything in it is just overwhelming to me. We hope this screen will be one way to prevent someone from losing their prized possessions.”

Fire Stoppers won the top prize at KCC’s Badger Venture in April, which included a trip to the InventOR bootcamp in May and the competition in June. Their marketing mentor at the statewide competition was Jennifer Lee who had worked for Nike marketing.

“She was a great fit, because her family members have been wildland firefighters,” McClure said.

The team experienced three hours of questions from judges and the public who stopped by their booth at the Portland event. They also had to give a 3-minute presentation in front of about 200 people.

“The experience was really good as you learn how to best present your ideas, speak in public and answer questions,” McClure said. Even if one does not have a solid invention, she recommends Badger Venture just for gaining knowledge on how to bring a product to market.

The team won $5,000 to put toward creating a business and manufacturing plan. “We hope to create a manufacturing site in Klamath Falls within the next year,” Walter said.

A 7-string violin

The other KCC team of George Neufeld and Cliff Foster, dubbed Questioning Standard Practice, got into the competition as a wild card slot from their presentation at Badger Venture April 23. It was not easy to do as there are only three spots available out of the 17 wild cards entries.

Neufeld developed a prototype 7-string electric violin, which in no way resembles its classical cousin. Neufeld, a musician since early childhood, said 7-string violins are the exception in the music world. It opens a wider range of music for the violinist. Its ultra-modern design sets it apart from other competitors, he said.