This spring, over 500 students gathered at El Camino College for the 2024 Southern California State Invention Convention (SCSIC), sponsored by Torrance Refining Company in partnership with Torrance Unified School District. The regional event highlights young inventors from across Southern California, celebrating their creativity, curiosity, and innovation.
Torrance Refinery General Manager Sara Wilson welcomed participants and presented awards in the categories of Energy and Safety.
The first California Invention Convention was held in 2017 in Santa Cruz with 55 young inventors attending and eight top inventors chosen to attend the national event. Since then, the California Invention Convention has grown to include two state competitions: one for Northern and one for Southern California schools. The recent Southern California event included students from school districts from Santa Barbara to San Diego, as well as a contingency from private schools and homeschools.
Refinery employees and contractors enjoyed participating as judges at the event. Process Engineer Benjamin Quang (a North High graduate) judged at last year’s Invention Convention said, “Students come up with some cool inventions, and I wanted to see more of them.” Keep reading (link to article about Anant) to learn about a past winner of the Invention Convention and how he and his family were impacted by the experience.
In all, 47 Torrance Unified School District students were selected to move onto the Invention Convention National Competition…and several won awards!