Inventing South Carolina’s Tomorrow

The South Carolina State Museum invites you to join fellow educators, inventors, industry experts, government officials, and community leaders to help create South Carolina’s innovative future at the inaugural South Carolina Invention Education Ecosystem Summit. The summit will introduce participants to the power of Invention Education (IvE) and potential of Invention Education Ecosystems to help South Carolina prepare its young people to invent their own future and solve South Carolina’s most pressing challenges.

For questions or more information please contact Invent.ED@scmuseum.org

Attendance at the South Carolina Invention Education Innovation Summit is free but limited to 100 participants.
Registration to this event is required.

Register here

What is Invention Education?

Invention education models the unique ways inventors find and solve problems and prepares South Carolina students for a future yet to be invented. It equips K-12 students with the skills and mindset required to address daily problems and the world’s most complex challenges. When students experience this approach, they become more engaged in their learning, more inclusive in their thinking, and more prepared for a future of rapid change and uncertainty.

Kids working through a hands on activity

What is an Invention Education Ecosystem?

An Invention Education Ecosystem is a coalition of regional K-12 educators, research universities and technical colleges, entrepreneurs, nonprofit leaders, government agencies, funders, community leaders, and others. Working together, they define the desired skills, knowledge, and characteristics required to promote South Carolina’s technological, innovation-driven economy and provide educational opportunities for students to practice those skills and behaviors at an earlier stage of development.

SC87.18.93a - View 2 of Projectile Points

Goals for the South Carolina Invention Education Ecosystem Summit

South Carolina requires a framework for invention education to match the pace of its technological growth. The South Carolina Invention Education Ecosystem Summit will bring leaders together to identify key strategies to catalyze growth and strengthen South Carolina’s Invention Education Ecosystem.

You will:

Describe and assess current invention education efforts in South Carolina.

Explore invention education ecosystems with educators, industry and government leaders, and other ecosystem connectors in South Carolina.

Discover the knowledge, skills, and characteristics essential to South Carolina’s future workforce and how invention education can help develop these abilities.

Identify obstacles that inhibit South Carolina’s invention education ecosystem and identify strategies to bridge gaps in the invention education and innovation pipeline.

Help lay the foundation for existing and emerging opportunities that connect students with high tech jobs.

Who should attend the 2026 South Carolina Invention Education Ecosystem Summit?

• Educators & Administrators: K-12 educators looking to integrate invention education, design thinking, and creative problem-solving into their classrooms and Career Technical Education (CTE) programs.

• Program Providers & Non-Profits: Organizations providing invention education and/or CTE experiences for students.

• Researchers & Evaluators: Professionals focusing on invention education, pedagogy, and student skill development.

• Policy Makers & Administrators: Leaders working to advance CTE and invention education at local, regional, or state levels.

• Industry Leaders & Philanthropists: Those investing in future innovation and talent pipelines for South Carolina.

• Inventors, Innovators, Entrepreneurs: Those creating new technologies and bringing them to market willing to strengthen the South Carolina Invention Education Ecosystem through their expertise, experience, and insights.

Why should YOU attend?

• Help prepare South Carolina’s students to address tomorrow’s most important and complex challenges.

• Engage with education, industry, government, and community leaders from across the state in dynamic discussions that will impact how South Carolina invents its future.

• Share experience and viewpoints through discussions, workshops, activities and demonstrations.

• Network with Invention Education Ecosystem colleagues during the evening reception on October 22.

Save Your Place

Attendance at the South Carolina Invention Education Innovation Summit is free but limited to 100 participants.

Day 1 of the Summit (October 22) offers a concentrated introduction to Invention Education primarily for educators (though all are welcome to attend).

Day 2 of the Summit (October 23) explores existing efforts among educators, industry leaders, and government entities to promote Invention Education in South Carolina and identify future opportunities to strengthen the Ecosystem. Attendees may elect to attend one or both days of the Summit. There is no cost to attend the Summit.