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SOUTH JORDAN -- Good ideas and hard work paid off for some Utah inventors Thursday. Eighty-four people participated in the Invented in Utah Challenge, and the final judging took place Thursday morning in South Jordan.
The nonprofit event was created to help inventors turn their ideas into real products by connecting them with mentors, sources and services.
"Our purpose is to promote 'inventorship' in Utah and creativity," said Michael Horatio, founder and organizer of the Invented in Utah Challenge.
This year's winner was a man who creates comfortable camping pads and vests that roll up to the size of a coke can. It's called Klymite Inertia.
"It looks a little funky, but it's super comfortable by using body mapping to optimize comfort and using pressure to get you comfortable and warm off the ground," inventor Nate Alder explained.
Judging was based off of usefulness, marketability, manufacturability and uniqueness.
First-, second- and third-place winners split $61,000 worth of services.
