Journal Knoxville Express, IA
02/21/06
Young Inventors Show Off
By: Steven J. Woodhouse, Editor, Knoxville Journal-Express It is time again for Invent Iowa, a competition sponsored by the University of Iowa and others to encourage young people's creativity and inventiveness when it comes to problem-solving. Invent Iowa is in its 19th year. Schools hold local competitions. Winners of those move onto regional with the most honored exhibiting and competing at a state competition on April 22 on the U of I campus. The colleges of engineering at both Iowa and Iowa State University sponsor the event and award six $500 scholarships each year at state. When an inventor or pair of inventors make it to state, they are considered state inventors, similar to all Olympic athletes being considered Olympians. West Elementary hosted its competition on Monday. Adrian and Vaughan, both nine, devised the "Traveling Desk and Storage" while on a long vacation. They were bored and had nowhere to put paper to entertain themselves. It has velcro straps that you can attach and seal things in, along with legs to stand it up in the car. Amber VanderHart, 10, invented the "Store it Scarf." It will hold things when you cannot take a purse or a jacket somewhere. She took home second place at West for that invention. West students McKenzie McDonald, and Kaitlyn Botkin, both 10, came up with their "Hangable Organizer" after spotting people who have trouble keeping a clean locker. Wick Cunningham, 10, and Aaron Crossett, 11, saw a need for a five-in-one toothbrush after going to camp. It holds water, toothpaste, floss, a small cup and obviously, the brush. The only water they could get to at camp came from a big bucket, which made things difficult. A squirt gun was their only other option for water for brushing before inventing the "Five-in-one Toothbrush." The creativity continued at Northstar Elementary on Wednesday. 11year-old There, David Hawkins thought of a way to try to stop his dad from nagging him about cleaning by putting a brush on his skateboard. He said he likes to skateboard, but he does not like to clean, but with his invention, the "Skateboard Sweeper," it is a little easier. The "Never Lose" is intended to keep remote controls in one place. According to 10-year-old Sytsma, her parents are always looking for their remote. Their strap, connecting a remote to a chair, cannot be broken and she said they cannot walk away with it.
Not all inventions they came up with were to make their parents happy. Chris Moody, 11, and Jacob Angrove, 10, invented the "Easy Feeder." It is two long tubes connected together, one for water, one for food for elderly people to take care of their pets. Moody said he got the idea because his grandfather has back problems. Alivia McCorkle, 11, invented the "Shaken Waken" machine. She realized how hard it is to get up in the morning, even when she can hear the alarm clock. The "Shaken Waken" vibrates one's mattress to wake him or her up. She was thinking of deaf people when she invented it. Ben Thomas, 10, put his energy into "The Deluxe Back Warmers." His idea is for a removable back pad that you can put in the microwave for your back. It connects with velcro to another pad that hangs on the back of the seat. As if that was not enough, there are pockets on the back of it to hold, as Ben put it, your TV Guide and remote. Winners have been announced for West Elementary; the winners are Sidney Reese and MacKenzie Boyd for the "Half and Half," first place; VanderHart, second place; Emily Blankenship and Mary Ball, "Around the Body," third place; and honorable mention went to Katie Utterback for the "Brace Buddy." East Elementary will hold its Invent Iowa competition today (Friday) from 8:3010:50 a.m.