Industrial Design senior Matthew Stoddard and Electrical Engineering student Christopher Vollo captured second place in Georgia Tech's 2012 InVenture Prize competition for their invention, "Stylii," an extraordinarily precise and pressure-sensitive capacitive stylus.

In the televised broadcast, they were awarded $10,000 for the smart invention. They also will receive a free U.S. patent filing by Georgia Tech, and automatic acceptance into Flashpoint, the university’s startup accelerator program.

“The patent will help us out so much and we’re excited about anything that will help us get this to market,” said Stoddard. “With the right connections and the right progress, it (the Stylii) will be on market by Christmas.”

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The InVenture Prize is Tech's annual undergraduate innovation competition that allows students to present their inventions in an "American Idol" style show. Stoddard and Vollo competed against six other finalist teams.

In the 2011 competition, Daniel Chaney (ID 2011) won first place for his “Slide Capo”—a hybrid guitar slide and capo that allows all new techniques and greater flexibility for guitarists to play faster and smoother. The prize came with $15,000 as well as the free US patent filing from the Georgia Tech Office of Technology Licensing, valued at approximately $20,000. Find out more about the Slide Capo.