Westfield fifth-graders invent innovative Teacher Toolkit to automate classroom seating and reduce “accidental favoritism.”

WASHINGTON, DC – June 17, 2014 – Addressing their classmates’ complaints about rarely being called on by the teacher or having to sit with the same people the whole school year, Franklin Elementary School students, Alex Keri and Owen Mason, created a program to help teachers more systemically determine seating patterns and ensure all kids get their chance to answer in class. Marketing their invention as a solution “for all your random problems,” the team used the Scratch programming tool to generate random number seating charts and “student pickers.”

Judges of the Smithsonian-Cricket Media Global Kids Invention Challenge were impressed by the team’s practical solution to a common classroom problem, naming their invention a 2014 Top Winner in this year’s Challenge.

Fairfax County Public School sixth-graders Johnny Pesavento and Kiran Singh invent innovative school bus tracker system, plan GPS-enabled app for broader market.

WASHINGTON, DC – June 17, 2014 – Knowing that student safety is an ongoing major concern for parents and schools, Mosby Woods Elementary School students Johnny Pesavento and Kiran Singh harnessed Google Maps and the free website creation tool, weebly.com, to craft a school bus tracking program to help the adults in their district sleep better at night. “We wanted to make an invention that let parents, kids and school staff know approximately where each Mosby Woods bus is at any given time,” say the boys.

Judges of the Smithsonian-Cricket Media Global Kids Invention Challenge were impressed by the 11-year-olds’ solution to an important real-world problem, naming their invention a 2014 Top Winner in this year’s Challenge. The young inventors also won a summer Camp Invention scholarship from one of the Challenge’s sponsors.

Greenwood Elementary School first-grader, Ella Woodside, garners top honor for her earth-friendly solar-powered safety dog leash invention.

WASHINGTON, DC – June 17, 2014 – Six-year-old Brookeville resident Ella Woodside was concerned that the fast cars she saw from her living room window might not see the dogs being walked by her neighbors at night. This was her motivation for creating the Solar Safety Leash, a light-up leash that charges using sunlight instead of batteries because, as she says, “it’s better for the earth.”

Judges of the Smithsonian-Cricket Media Global Kids Invention Challenge agreed that Woodside’s invention solves an important real-world problem, naming her a 2014 Top Winner in this year’s Challenge.

Six teens win top honors, patent filing, for their energy efficient dual-bladed wind turbine technology invention.

WASHINGTON, DC – June 17, 2014 – When the Chartiers Valley School District received a grant to explore alternative energy sources, the district’s middle school erected a windmill to help power a sign in front of the building. Noting that this windmill takes more wind power than they thought to spin the blades and generate power, a team of Chartiers Valley High School seniors figured that if they could reduce the amount of wind needed to power the blades, they could make a new and more energy-efficient wind turbine for home use. Their invention, the TwinBine, does exactly that by using two blades instead of one to double the surface area of the device and more efficiently harness wind for energy.

Judges of the 2014 Smithsonian-Cricket Media Global Kids Invention Challenge were greatly impressed by this real-world clean energy solution, awarding Top Winner status to the Sigma Six development team of Calvin Boyle, Tyler Frank, Kyle Hicken, Ross Manganaro, Paul Novelli, and Brandon Robinson. The team invention was additionally recognized by the Challenge’s sponsoring law firm of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, LLP, which filed a patent for the invention in the names of the six student developers.

Empathetic young Hagerstown resident, Matthew Walker, develops a portable transportation and sleeping solution for the homeless.

WASHINGTON, DC – June 17, 2014 – Watching a Hagerstown homeless woman struggle with moving her bags of possessions from one place to another was what inspired nine-year-old Matthew Walker to invent the CotCart, an invention that combines a lightweight cart, tarp, bungee cords and tent pipes to provide portable storage and a sheltered bed for those living on the streets.

Judges of the Smithsonian-Cricket Media Global Kids Invention Challenge agreed that Walker’s CotCart solves an important real-world problem, naming him a 2014 Top Winner in this year’s Challenge. Walker also won a summer Camp Invention scholarship from one of the Challenge’s sponsors.

15-year-old Wassaic, NY resident Ben Yager honored for inventing geothermal cooling system.

WASHINGTON, DC – June 17, 2014 – From a small five- by- five tent set up on his bedroom floor, Millbrook High School 10th-grader Ben Yager used a heater, refrigerator, probes, thermometers, a “robotic contraption” and other equipment to test out his homemade geothermal cooling system. If the future eco-resource engineer got stuck once or twice in the 90-degree environment because of a snagged tent zipper, well that was all just part of the invention process. Yager had been testing out his green energy ideas in school science fairs since his eighth-grade year at Dutchess Day School, and this 2014 invention was his masterpiece, combining elements of all his previous experiments.

Judges of the Smithsonian-Cricket Media Global Kids Invention Challenge agreed that Yager’s Geothermal Cooling System for Optimizing Desert Solar Cells was indeed a masterpiece, naming him a 2014 Top Winner in this year’s Challenge.

14- year- old Chase Lewis invents smoke mask delivery system to save lives of fire victims trapped in second-story floors.

WASHINGTON, DC – June 17, 2014 – In the case of one student, the proverb, “It takes a village to raise a child,” can be happily seen in action. The Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and North Chatham Fire Departments all offered helping hands in boosting the success of a local teen’s smoke mask delivery system invention. Wearing full protective fire-fighting gear, they tested out the three prototype projectiles developed by 14-year-old Chase Lewis, tossing them through a simulated window to compare for speed and accuracy. In the end, it was the football-shaped canister that took the prize.

The Judges of the Smithsonian-Cricket Media Global Kids Invention Challenge agreed, awarding Lewis Top Winner recognition and the coveted prize of a patent filing in his name for the life-saving device.

11-year-old Clinton, MD resident Megan Lim invents tick remover for pets

WASHINGTON, DC – June 17, 2014 – The day Megan Lim’s best friend, her dog Jack, was diagnosed with Lyme disease, finding a cure for ticks on pets became a mission for her. Lim, who is new to Clinton and homeschooled, fashioned an innovative device using a magnifier, dropper, rubbing alcohol and bottle with a pear-shaped cutout to identify, capture and kill the ticks that threaten pets. Lucky for Jack, he was successfully treated with antibiotics, but the threat of ticks still remains very real.

Judges of the Smithsonian-Cricket Media Global Kids Invention Challenge agreed that Lim’s invention solved an important real-world problem and awarded her Top Winner recognition in this year’s Challenge.

Springfield six-year-olds invent Clean Green Mower to help preserve their city’s clean air.

WASHINGTON, DC – June 17, 2014 – Deciding that a green lawn mower would solve the problem of air pollution caused by gas mowers, the girls of Hunt Valley Elementary School-based Girl Scout Troop 4425 invented a mower that would run on steam. “It not only prevents air pollution but it also waters the grass,” say the six-year-olds, who think the mower can be sold for less than 100 dollars and should be available in local stores.

Judges of the Smithsonian-Cricket Media Global Kids Invention Challenge were impressed by the team’s practical solution to environmental pollution, naming the invention created by Megan Gandy, Mikayla Mann, Kenedie Odum, Ella Clarke, Bellana Pachon, Ella Alemian, Addison Soule, and Kate Schafenberg a 2014 Top Winner in this year’s Challenge.

Solar-lighted dog leash, portable bed for the homeless, green mower, object recognition for the visually impaired among young inventors’ innovative solutions to real world problems.

WASHINGTON, DC – May 21, 2014 – Cricket&#0153 Media (TSX-V: SLN), an education media company and global social learning network, and the Smithsonian’s Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation’s Spark!Lab are pleased to announce the top winners of the 2013-2014 Spark Lab Invent It! Challenge. The six individual and four group winners, as well as the 24 runners up, were chosen from hundreds of creative entries by students aged five to 18 across the world.