Who hasn’t, at some point, searched high and low for their cell-phone charger? When the power bar on the screen creeps toward zero percent, a sense of panic can set in if a power source to recharge is not readily available.Two high school juniors are working on an invention to solve that problem and forever banish that feeling of dread. Plus, it’s a device that could be in great demand in developing countries that lack the infrastructure for charging cell phones.
Sydney Conn and Leena Vyas have a simple solution: Use the wind to help charge cell phones.
Best friends since the second grade, the teens won $5,000 in the Innovation Connector’s Big Idea Pitch for their Breeze Charger. The competition took place a few weeks ago in Muncie.
Conn is a junior at Winchester Community High School and Vyas is schooled at Tippecanoe High School in Tipp City, Ohio, near Dayton. They met in second grade at the Montessori school in Greenville, Ohio, and quickly became friends.
In its basic guise, the entrepreneurs have developed a way to harness the power of the wind to turn a propeller that turns a generator, creating electricity to charge a cell phone or rechargeable battery.
Vyas got the idea while on a family trip to India. She noticed many people didn’t have a proper home, but almost everyone had a cell phone. It was a big problem, she said, to find somewhere to recharge the phone. “So the idea came to use the wind created by a moving vehicle to charge the devices,” she said.
That can be a car or a rickshaw, either pulled or powered by pedals or a small engine. The two said their invention could be used in developing nations where there is no reliable supply of electricity.
Vyas worked on her idea in the seventh grade as a science fair project. Vyas asked Conn to join her in their freshman year, 2015, when they presented their invention at a conference in New York City.
The prototype used a large propeller and a stick from one of those flags people attach to their car windows to show support for their favorite team.
The second model was much smaller, but too expensive to produce because of the plastic casing. It also didn’t work well in low wind conditions.
“So we realized we needed a fan that spun easier,” Vyas said. “And we wanted to be able to use it on bikes so it could be used in Third World countries, even if you didn’t have a car.”
Ever resourceful, the pair solved the expense problem by using part of a plastic water bottle, an item that is plentiful in developing countries, they said.
Models three and four ditched the propeller, after consulting with engineers, in favor of a “muffin fan” that spins much more easily. Think of the fan in the back of an older desktop computer for a visual.
The larger fan spins better, Vyas said, “because it had more surface area for the wind to hit.”
Conn said a switch was added so the user could recharge a battery for use later or a cell phone.
It only takes one minute to charge the battery at 30 mph, and six full charges can juice up an iPhone 7. Flip phones, Conn noted, take less power than iPhones.
Conn said her aunt heard about the Innovation Connector’s Big Idea Pitch on the radio and encouraged the girls to enter.
In preparation, Conn attended workshops there and the girls worked on a presentation. On the first night of competition, they went up against 40 other entrants, each doing a three-minute presentation or pitch. They advanced into the top five.
The top five (actually six were chosen) moved on to the Excellence in Innovation Awards Banquet where they presented their ideas to about 350 community movers and shakers and a panel of judges. Conn and Vyas were the youngest presenters.
“They had a special ‘it’ factor,” said Ted Baker, executive director of the Innovation Connector. “The cool thing is, they won with a great presentation and a well-thought-out product that has meaning to it.”
Did the girls think they would win?
“No!” they both said at once.
“We were super nervous. We practiced our pitch probably 50 times before we went,” Conn said.
“I would have been a lot more nervous if I was up there by myself,” Vyas added. “Having Sydney there made it a lot better.”
Besides the $5,000 prize, which the pair will split and use for college, they also get to use the Innovation Connector’s marketing, consultation and legal services to further develop the Breeze Charger.
Both girls are thinking about careers, and it’s a good bet theirs will include science.
Conn is seeking a career in the medical field, possibly becoming an anesthesiologist.
Vyas wants to be an engineer.
Their college choices have not been made, but they speak highly of a recent visit to Earlham College, where they met the head of the entrepreneur center.
As for the Breeze Charger, the plan is to further develop the design and get it patented.
Vyas said they want to make 10 working breeze chargers and give them to people to test out. “Then, once we finalize our design, we hope to send them overseas so people can use them for the main purpose we created them for.”
“Our main goal is to help people rather than for us to earn money,” Conn said. “We want to help people in other countries that don’t have the same opportunities that we have in the United States.”
Via http://www.thestarpress.com/story/news/local/2017/12/25/cant-get-your-cell-phone-charged-two-high-school-juniors-have-solution/964395001/
