Join the Lakin Library & Envisioning Center on November 17, 2026, for the Speakers Bureau presentation “Hidden in Plain Sight: Iowa’s Remarkable Legacy of Innovation” by Timothy Zarley.

When a young Northwestern law student learned that Timothy Zarley ran a patent law firm in Iowa, he was skeptical there was enough work to keep the lights on. Minutes later, walking into a football stadium, Zarley pointed out Iowa innovation everywhere he looked — the stadium lights from Oskaloosa, the scoreboard from Des Moines, the kicking nets, the knee braces, even the rules of Arena Football. All Iowa. All patented. All hiding in plain sight.

In this presentation, patent attorney and Iowa native Timothy Zarley takes audiences on a journey through Iowa’s remarkable and largely unknown legacy of innovation. Drawing on the Iowa Inventors Hall of Fame and decades of patent law experience, Zarley tells the stories of the Hawkeye State inventors whose ideas changed American life — from the factory floor to the playing field to the kitchen table. Along the way he explores how the patent system works, why it matters, and why Iowa has produced far more than its share of the inventions that shaped modern America.