SOCORRO, N.M. – New Mexico Tech once again is offering prize money for the winning inventors at the Wolves Den competition, thanks to the Kauffman Foundation.

The top prize will be $5,000, with second place earning $3,500 and third prize getting $1,500. The Wolves Den is the final segment of the third annual NMT Inventors and Entrepreneurs Workshop on April 13 and 14 in the Fidel Center.

For complete registration information and the schedule, visit http://management.nmt.edu/invent/.

“We think this will stimulate lots of excellent project applications for the Wolves Den,” said event co-organizer Dr. Peter Anselmo. “We really appreciate the sponsorship of the Kauffman Foundation. This validates what we are doing and provides us with the means to bring students from rural areas of New Mexico to participate in this event.”

Established in the mid-1960s by the late entrepreneur and philanthropist Ewing Marion Kauffman, the Kauffman Foundation is based in Kansas City, Mo., and is among the largest private foundations in the United States with an asset base of approximately $2 billion. Kauffman was the owner of the Kansas City Royals for many years and is the namesake of the team’s Kauffman Stadium.

Anselmo said the 2018 event promises to be bigger and better than next year. In addition to returning students teams from Navajo Technical University and Luna Community College, the Kauffman Foundation is providing the means to bring students from a third rural school to the event.

The 2017 winner of the Wolves Den was Andrew Miller, a Tech graduate who is now a Ph.D. student at Texas A&M. Miller won $5,000 and found investors for his new company, Battery Savers. He will return for the 2018 event as a featured speaker.

Information and preparation sessions for the 2018 Wolves Den are held Thursdays at 6 p.m. in Speare 15.

The two-day event will again culminate with New Mexico Tech’s own “Wolves’ Den,” which is similar to the popular Shark Tank television show. Inventors will present their ideas to a panel of successful, experienced investors and entrepreneurs. The event features individual talks, panel discussions, and success stories – all geared toward inventors, entrepreneurs, and investors with the theme of “Grassroots Entrepreneurship.”

Speakers and panelists are coming from Silicon Valley, New York, and around New Mexico. Registration is now open at http://management.nmt.edu/invent/. Students can register for $25; seniors and veterans for $45; and $75 for all others who register before March 10.