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A Bright Idea from a Young Mind
Fifteen-year-old Ann Makosinski invents Human Powered Flashlight
By: Megan Gartrell, Staff Writer
It turns out that old cliché about power in the palm of your hand has literal meaning. At only fifteen, Ann Makosinski is making a name for herself after inventing a flashlight powered by heat from the human hand. She has named the device the Hollow Flashlight and already her video describing her science fair project has received more than 1.2 million views on YouTube.
Her invention landed her a spot as the sole representative for Canada in the 2013 Google Science Fair finals being held in California this September. She beat out thousands of submissions from around to globe to land among the top 15 finalists. Of those 15, which include students from Greece, Australia, Russia, Turkey, the US, India and Singapore, one winner from three age groups will be chosen to receive the grand prize, which includes a $50,000 scholarship, a trip to the Galapagos Islands and a $10,000 grant to the winner’s school.
Makosinski is no stranger to science competitions. The Grade 10 student from St. Michaels University School in Victoria B.C. has entered her local science fair for the past five years. Her previous projects include an MP3 player powered by the energy from a candle and a flashlight that lit LED’s with piezoelectricity. The science behind her most recent idea focuses around Peltier tiles, which produce electricity when heated on one side and cooled on the other.
In an interview with The Globe and Mail, Makosinski said she was surprised to learn how far her project has gotten. She has always had an interest in harvesting unused energy and realized that the warmth generated by the human body was an overlooked energy source. “I decided to combine my past two ideas using the Peltier tiles to harvest the human energy and demonstrate the concept using a flashlight,” she said.
In the race to develop new, clean and cheap technologies that save energy, Makosinski’s invention has big potential but in order to make it commercially available it will need some tweaks. Makosinski spoke with Alexander Baron at digitaljournal.com about some of the work required to expand and market her flashlight saying, “I need to do more research on the actual heat transfer process to ensure the maximum capability per square centimeter.”
We could also see an appearance by Makosinski on the Canadian show Dragon’s Den. While there hasn’t been any interest in the flashlight commercially yet, she is considering appealing to the investors on the show to raise funds for further development. It cost her 26 dollars to make the flashlight but unlike a regular flashlight this model does not have the added cost of batteries, making it affordable for long-term use. As far as where she would like to see her flashlight she said, [pullquote]“The first use would be as an emergency flashlight in emergency kits. I would also like to see it as a light source for people in countries and places where electricity is not available or too expensive to install.”[/pullquote]
Makosinski is clearly an individual with a bright future. Perhaps a TED talk is not far off. One thing is certain, win or lose she has become a role model for young women in the field of science. [pullquote]“We have ideas just as good as the guys and we shouldn’t be held down because of stereotypes,” she said.[/pullquote] The buzz surrounding this child prodigy has yet to diminish and has left many excited to see what she comes up with for her senior science fair project.
Megan Gartrell is a writer/editor living in Victoria, B.C. Her passions include poetry, fiction, dance and music.
Sources
Photo courtesy to Girlsguide.co.za and Globe and Mail
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