SpringfieldNewsSun.com

Ten-year-old Austin Lemmons had to try to keep track of his beloved dog at night.

And then a light bulb went on — literarily and figuratively.

He hooked batteries up to white Christmas lights and glued them to a big dog collar. It was one of 50 student inventions on display Monday night at Kenwood Elementary School during Springfield City Schools' district-wide Invention Convention.

The Safety Collar 2000 makes Misha easy to spot if she runs into the street or a neighbor's yard, Lemmons said.

"She might think she's the hottest dog on the block, too," said Lemmons, a fourth grader at Simon Kenton Elementary School.

Fourteen finalists from Monday night's competition will progress to the second annual Miami Valley Invention Convention at Wright State University in February to compete for prizes and a $2,500 college scholarship.

Last year, Snyder Park Elementary School fourth graderTyler Violet was featured on The Ellen DeGeneres Show with his invention "The Remote Finder 3000."

More than 250 children participated in Springfield's contest this year, Kenwood Principal Jan Taylor said. That's a leap over the city's first competition last year, when 32 students took part.

The project challenged children from six elementary and middle schools to develop inventions that solve everyday problems.

"The inventions are a lot more sophisticated this year compared to last year. The children and staff have really gotten into it. I just see a lot of high level critical thinking," Taylor said.

Lemmons' Safety Collar 2000 went through a couple modifications before he arrived at the final product. An early version used glow sticks, but they stopped glowing once they warmed up. Then he tried attaching reflectors, but those weren't visible unless light shined directly on them. The Christmas lights worked best.

Other devices on display Monday included the "No Slip Soap Grip," the "Pet-o-Matic" pet shower and "The Peeper Keeper," a glow-in-the-dark glasses bin.