A fire-extinguishing “grenade”, a “laser finger” remote control for quadriplegic individuals, and a pocket-sized water purifier. A stack of cutting-edge innovations that have not come from a hi-tech thinktank but from teams of high school students in the US.
Twenty InvenTeams recently showcased these and other inventions at the 2007 Odyssey event at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The teams are set to receive grants of up to $10,000 in October to help them develop an invention prototype.
Among the other amazing creations are:
- Solar-powered biodiesel processor
- Driver Awake dozing driver waking system
- Underground locator and communicator
Organising spokesperson Sarah Piperato told me that, “These high schoolers’ inventions show great innovation. This is what ambitious American teens are accomplishing with science and technology.” Now, these truly are winning science projects that put things like squeezing a boiled egg into a bottle to shame. That said, not everyone can be a Faraday, Edison, or a Lovelace.