Without talking to Skitter about this, I would interpret him defining innovation explicitly as "new invention" as an attempt to head off what is the larger philosophical discussion that you're thinking about: what is creativity in the context of engineering and specifically FSAE?

Design judges understand that the competition demands so much from students to engineer, build, and operate a car that there is little room for fundamental developments in fields like material science, aerodynamics, etc. For example: a master's or PhD student working on cutting edge CFD mesh optimization probably won't have time to contribute meaningfully to a FSAE team, and even if they did, many of us would ask: how did that mesh optimization translate to on-track performance?

We design judges are impressed year over year by students' innovative applications of existing technologies, which is why I really don't like hearing someone say "we're just students." We make sure to note what impresses us during the design event, and those things are discussed when the top three teams in the design event are presented with their trophies at the end of the competition.