Inventors and Patents From the City of Las Vegas

The Nevada Women’s Business Center has an overarching goal of improving economic well-being for local Nevadans through personalized self-sufficiency strategies. The center helps thousands of clients every year to advance their entrepreneurial projects. In addition to the women’s business center, the United Inventors Association offers educational resources and legitimate opportunities to independent inventors. Through its educational programs, the association empowers independent inventors by encouraging honest and ethical business practices.

Glen C. Rains’ wasp hound invention

The wasp hound is a simple invention, made of 3-inch PVC pipe and a fan. Its interior contains a pinhole to see which wasps are inside, and is designed to train the insects to detect different scents. The device can produce thousands of wasps a week.

Adam Courville’s WiTricity invention

Adam Courville has developed an oil well maintenance tool that will save time and money for oil and gas companies. His prototype is still in the final testing stages, and will soon begin field testing. Adam’s team is currently working to make sure the prototype won’t deform when put under pressure.

Gilbert Hyatt’s inventions

Gilbert Hyatt’s inventions have been used in countless products around the world, including a gaming system. While Hyatt has over 70 patents, he still works in his home laboratory. One of his career highlights was winning a two-decade-long battle over a patent for the single-chip microprocessor, the core component of computer chips. Texas Instruments and others had been challenging Hyatt’s patent, but Hyatt prevailed in the end.

Hyatt was also responsible for the creation of the “computer on a chip,” which combines all the elements of a computer onto a single chip. This technology was a precursor to the one used by Intel today. Hyatt’s chip was initially used for controlling an industrial milling machine. It required only a small number of program instructions and a tiny ROM memory array. It also eliminated the need for multiple control units and input/output channels.

Hyatt’s inventions have become the backbone of modern technology. His invention of the microprocessor is a landmark invention that could change the way our technology works. Hyatt has lived in Las Vegas for the past 25 years, working from his home research lab. While other engineers may dispute Hyatt’s place in history, he has consistently fought for his place in the history books.

Hyatt returned to school to earn his master’s degree in electrical engineering in 1965. With three small children to support, he took a position as a research scientist at Teledyne. However, he had other ambitions. In 1967, Hyatt started a project that would eventually become the computer on a chip. It took him months to perfect the design, and he quit Teledyne in 1968 to focus on it fully.