Akron, Ohio, Sept. 16, 2008 ― Middle-school students nationwide are challenged to stretch their imaginations to design and create an invention made with rubber bands for the first Rubber Band Contest for Young Inventors. The contest, open to students in grades 5 through 8, is hosted by the Rubber Division of the American Chemical Society (ACS), The University of Akron and its Akron Global Polymer Academy (AGPA), all based in Ohio.

Sponsored by Alliance Rubber Co. of Hot Springs, Ark., and administered by the National Museum of Education, coordinator of the BubbleWrap® Competition for Young Inventors, the contest commemorates the 100th anniversary of the Rubber Division, ACS and the 100th anniversary of the world’s first rubber chemistry course, offered at Buchtel College (now The University of Akron).

A major component of entrants’ inventions must involve rubber bands. As a complement to the contest, AGPA is releasing educational resources to enhance teachers’ science and social studies curricula. These standards-based lesson plans focus on physical science, science and technology, scientific inquiry, natural resources and rubber history. The AGPA also is releasing a suite of multimedia learning elements — such as video clips, animations, and games — that can be used in coordination with these lesson plans. Educators can access these resources at www.rubberbandcontest.com or at the AGPA’s P-16 Science Education Web site at www.agpa.uakron.edu/p16.

To enter the contest, students should submit a completed official entry form; a sketch of the invention; and an essay of 1,000 words or less explaining the invention’s use, how it works, its need or benefit to society and how the idea for the invention was formed. The deadline for entries is Nov. 14, 2008. Complete contest entry rules and details are available at www.rubberbandcontest.org.

Fifteen semifinalists will be chosen in this national competition. From this group, three finalists will be honored at The University of Akron on Feb. 14, 2009, when the top prize winner will be announced at a special ceremony. The grand-prize winner will receive a $10,000 savings bond, and the second- and third-place winners will receive $5,000 and $2,500 savings bonds, respectively. Each finalist’s teacher or mentor will receive a $500 gift card. The 12 remaining semifinalists each will receive a $50 gift card.

The Rubber Division, ACS, is a professional, nonprofit association dedicated to enhancing science, technology and business across the evolving elastomeric community. The Rubber Division's mission is to expand the elastomeric profession and individual development through educational, technical and interactive activities. For more information about the Rubber Division and its activities, visit www.rubber.org.

The University of Akron has played a role in nearly every major development in the evolution of rubber chemistry and polymer science since the dawn of the 20th century. The world’s first course in rubber chemistry was offered by the University’s forerunner, Buchtel College, in 1909. During World War II, UA’s work in synthetic rubber was so critical to the nation’s war effort that the campus now bears a National Historic Landmark to commemorate its role. The Institute for Rubber Research was founded at UA in 1956, and the first doctoral degree awarded by the university was for polymer science in 1959. In 1988, UA established the world’s first College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering, the largest academic program of its kind. Today, UA’s polymer researchers continue to open new frontiers in science and engineering through nanotechnology, biomaterials and photonics.

The Akron Global Polymer Academy is the educational outreach arm for The University of Akron College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering. The AGPA creates and disseminates knowledge about polymer science, polymer engineering, and science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education through face-to-face teacher workshops, tours and distributive education ventures.

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