Last day to think big, submit ideas

All young inventors out there - today is the last day to enter brilliant ideas into the "Wouldn't It Be Cool If..." contest.

Youths ages 10 to 15 can enter the contest until today at 4 p.m., by submitting an invention idea and discussing how math and science can make their invention a possibility. Invention ideas have no limits and can be anything youth think can make their community better.

The "Wouldn't It Be Cool If..." national campaign is a contest hosted by Time Warner Cable’s Connect a Million Minds and i.am FIRST, founded by artist will.i.am. Connect A Million Minds is TWC’s five-year, $100 million philanthropic initiative to get students excited about science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields.

Ideas can be submitted by individuals or teams of two or three. The public will then be invited to go online to vote for favorite inventions. Vote totals will be used as a judging criteria.

Finalists will move on to St. Louis in April, where they will present their ideas to judges as part of the FIRST Robotics Championship. From there, one winner will receive the grand prize of collaborating with Fahrenheit 212, one of the nation's pre-eminent innovating consulting firms.

The winner will work with Fahrenheit 212 for several months to help develop their winning idea and create a business model.

So start thinking and submit ideas online today by 4 p.m.!

Photo: Kaleah Walker and Donovan Walker discuss their group's invention idea. Diedra Laird - dlaird@charlotteobserver.com