SOCORRO, N.M. – The 2020 Inventors and Entrepreneurs Workshop was cancelled due to the pandemic; however, the Wolves Den student inventors showcase will continue in the virtual world.

Organizer Dr. Peter Anselmo said the event will include about five students and five teams from Luna Community College in Las Vegas, N.M., one team from Tohatchi High School, and one student presenting from New Mexico Tech.  Originally, more NMT students had signed up, but decided to back out due to coursework.

“The Wolves Den will be on a smaller scale than planned, but we are going to do a virtual event to highlight these student inventors,” said Anselmo, who is the director of the Center for Innovation Commercialization at NMT. “We persevered to make this happen, and I look forward to seeing these young inventors present their big ideas to the Wolves.”

The basis for the Wolves’ Den is intellectual property (IP). All presenting inventors will be showcasing commercialization ideas that are built around IP that is either protected or protectable.

New Mexico Tech’s own “Wolves’ Den” is similar to the popular Shark Tank television show. Inventors will present their ideas to a panel of successful, experienced investors and entrepreneurs. Presenters will be selected based on invention summaries submitted to a New Mexico Tech committee.

Some sponsors decided to continue to support the event in the virtual world, so the Wolves Den participants will be competing for have prizes – scholarships for the Tohatchi students and non-cash awards for the college students.

The event will be a Zoom private meeting, with the students pre-recording their pitches to avoid same-day internet issues.

Then the Wolves, students, and special invitees will watch the presentations along with the students. Then, the Wolves – a panel of industry experts, investors, and entrepreneurs – can ask questions.

– NMT –