The first female Lemelson-MIT Student Prize winner, Amy Smith received a B.S. (1984) and an S.M. (1995) in Mechanical Engineering from MIT and is currently working toward a M.S. in Technology and Policy. She also won the National Inventor's Hall of Fame Collegiate Inventors Competition (1999). In 2001 Smith helped start the MIT IDEAS Competition to promote student innovation and inventiveness for community needs, which she currently directs.