Some of them had some unique gadgets that could be headed for a store near you.
"Getting the excess water out of spinach is a really messy process," says Mari Debon.
Mari Debon of Reading invented the VeggieSkweeze.
"You can put the whole thing in the microwave, defrost it, and then you just plunge out the water over sink. And you never have to touch the spinach. It keeps it sanitary," Mari explained.
Debon is among the 30 hopefuls selected from 400 to come here to Philadelphia for Discovery Day.
Each inventor gets a five minute pitch with Lenfest Media Group at the National Constitution Center in hopes that their gadget will be licensed and turned in to the next great consumer product.
"It should be unique," said Andy McKinley. "Ideally it should retail for $19.95 or less, because that's the magic number for direct response television."
There's no limit to how many people will progress to talks, and the inventions run the gamut.
Many born from a problem the inventors couldn't find a solution for like the flip case, which transforms a carrying case into a portable laptop table.
"You can take them on the go, these laptop computers, but you can't comfortably use them on the go. So I envisioned a vendor at the ballgame," says Flip Case inventor Kevin Mitchell.
Or how about Edible Cupcake Papers that takes on the flavor of the cake?
"Well I thought there had to be a better way than peeling off liner and have cake fall everywhere, then you have the trash to deal with, what do you do with it?" said Debbie Oser.
For those not selected, don't get discouraged. You don't have to take my word for it, take Benjamin Franklin's.
"They are the future. Their invention could be the catalyst for other people, like my discovery of lightning and electricity was to event many more things. That's what makes this world so great," said the "Ben Franklin" actor, who was on hand to encourage the inventors.
Wednesday was the first Discovery Day, and the hope is that, if all goes well, there will be more discovery days for inventors across the country.
