The Main Engineer MacRobert Medal competitors asks UK college students: “Should you had been an engineer, what would you do?”
And 12-year-old Rebecca Younger had her reply straight away.
The younger Scottish pupil needed to assist members of her group dealing with homelessness.
“Sadly, you see so many individuals sleeping tough on the streets of Glasgow and I at all times felt dangerous seeing how chilly they had been,” Younger informed The Instances.
So, the Kelvinside Academy pupil invented a solar-powered heated blanket with the objective of serving to unhoused individuals hold heat.
“It was apparent to me that this might assist,” she added.
Younger began by researching sleeping baggage and backpacks, curious as to how they could possibly be designed to supply much more heat.
In fact, heated blankets do exist, although they should be plugged right into a wall to perform to their full potential — a luxurious homeless people typically should not have.
Younger entered the Main Engineer MacRobert competitors as one in all 70,000 engineering designs and gained the Commendation Medal, an award decided by public vote. She additionally gained a silver medal within the predominant competitors.
With help from engineering agency Thales, Younger offered a prototype for the heated blanket. The design is built-in right into a backpack and powered by the solar, permitting for straightforward on-the-go use.
Whereas simplistic in utility, the Younger’s design is thorough.
Utilizing the common human sleep time of eight hours as a required run time, she carried out in-depth analysis on probably the most appropriate batteries and photo voltaic panels to make use of within the prototype.
The invention additionally features a management circuit that routinely alternates the blanket between on/off states based mostly on temperature readings to preserve battery life. The blanket itself can be designed equally to a sleeping bag to permit for warmth retention and to maintain customers heat amid any shifts or actions.
The outer body of the blanket’s backpack additionally gives extra cupboard space to the consumer.
Whereas created with the intention to assist individuals sleeping on the streets, Younger additionally stated the design could possibly be relevant for tenting, mountaineering, or touring.
Thales hopes that with Younger’s success within the competitors that the product can now be additional enhanced and patented for manufacturing.
“To assume one thing I’ve designed may in the future assist any person on the streets is wonderful,” Younger informed The Instances.
“It felt wonderful to see my drawing flip into one thing actual. I by no means thought that would occur. Homelessness is a giant downside that wants fixing and in case you see a homeless particular person, assist in any means you may.”
Whereas the design and prototype are thrilling, Younger’s mentors had been most compelled by her empathy and concern for others.
“The outstanding idea, a Photo voltaic Powered Heated Blanket, was the good thought of a younger pupil, who aspires to be an engineer,” a weblog publish from Thales reads. “What made it so particular? It got here from a spot of empathy and a real need to make a distinction for the homeless group.”
Leigh Goldie, Younger’s trainer, echoed these sentiments.
“Rebecca’s success feels unbelievable. It’s so uncommon to see this degree of consciousness and creativity at such a younger age, and to use that to a real-world concern is really particular,” Goldie informed The Instances.
“Rebecca’s story reveals how creativity and compassion can result in significant innovation, even at this stage of life. If she decides to pursue STEM additional, who is aware of how far she may go?”
Header picture courtesy of Main Engineer
