The Invention Nation Inventors

Learn more about the inventors featured on Invention Nation.

With a FuelMeister, you don't have to be a plumber or mechanic to make your own biodiesel. This is not a hobby kit but a complete system engineered with quality materials. You get all the specialized equipment and supplies you need to start making biodiesel that same day. All you need to add is vegetable oil, methanol, electricity and tap water. It comes with a digital scale to accurately measure your own lye. The whole setup fits comfortably in the corner of your garage. It's a "closed" system, too, so you won't generate fumes or have to pour or stir any liquids. It will turn even heavily used cooking oil into clean-burning, biodegradable, smooth-running biodiesel. Whatever you own that runs on diesel fuel you can power with the biodiesel you produce with your own FuelMeister biodiesel production system.

Ian Bruce started Venture Vehicles more than five years ago and as he puts it, "[It] was my answer to the Bush government." Venture Vehicles is an innovative, environmentally-friendly personal transportation company based in Los Angeles, Calif. Together with a complement of world-class design, engineering, manufacturing and marketing partners, Venture Vehicles is developing the first in a line of groundbreaking, ultrahigh mileage, expressive transportation vehicles. The company's first vehicle is a revolutionary, two-passenger, three-wheeled, tilting (articulating) vehicle, powered by a highly fuel-efficient hybrid propulsion system that will deliver over 100 mpg, at over 100 mph, and blistering 0 to 60 acceleration. Yet, it is designed and engineered to be affordably priced.

Craig Calfee got the idea for his bamboo bikes several years ago while on a trip to Africa. He noticed that there was a plethora of bamboo combined with a lack of transportation for the poor, so bamboo bicycles seemed a perfect fit. Craig realized that he could potentially teach people how to build the frame and assemble the parts with zero electricity. Craig returned to California and began the testing phase of converting raw bamboo into bicycles. He started small, building bikes for family and friends, many who thought his idea was crazy. When people heard Craig speak of his bamboo brainchild, they often said, "Bamboo? You mean that stuff we use to hold up our tomato plants? The same material that gets all cracked and faded from the sun?" Craig had a difficult time in the beginning phases of construction convincing people that a bamboo bike was in fact sturdy and viable.

The HumanCar represents original identity and innovation. It's aerospace green technology and street theater all at once. The HumanCar makes its drivers and passengers more fit, safe and less in debt. It's also as fun as powder skiing. It is not a pedal car. It's 100 percent automotive the chassis is designed for plus-100 mph and will carry 1,000 pounds. The transmission will accept a variety of motor options right now. The TWASTA patent (Team Work and Strength Training Apparatus) defines a mobile or stationary full body workout device, for multiple participants.