National Gallery for America's Young Inventors
2002 Inductees
Anthony D. Jarecki, 12 - Easy Lift Trash Can
After struggling to lift heavy trash bags out of the trash can
and cleaning up spilled trash, Anthony designed a trash removal system
to alleviate the problems. His invention consists of a large trash can
with a hinged and locking door cut in the side to prevent the door from
opening until ready to use for trash removal; two attachments are included
- one to hold extra bags and the other for twist ties. When ready to
empty the trash, open the locks, slide the trash bag out of the can using
a twist tie to close the bag and set it aside. Close and lock the trash
can door. Put a new trash bag in the can. Take trash to designated
area. No heavy lifting or spills!
Gabe Klapman, 18 and Peter Alexander Lee, 17 - Big
Array System
Gabe and Peter have two hearing impaired friends who struggle
even with hearing aids due to too much ambient sound. Gabe and Peter
have designed a new directional hearing aid with a two-directional
array of 8 to 18 microphones spaced appropriately to amplify the sounds
of all voice frequencies coming from directly in front of the wearer.
The sound signals are then digitally processed in a custom chip to
diminish the sounds from other directions. The amplified output is
then connected to a conventional hearing aid transducer. This new technology
is inexpensive and can be built into personal accessories such as hats
and briefcases.
Ryan Patterson, 19 - The American Sign Language
Translator
Many people who have a communication disability have learned American Sign
Language but are unable to communicate because the person they are trying to
communicate with does not know sign language. Ryan has modified a golf glove
to translate American Sign Language and display the characters on a small screen
so that people read what the signer is saying. This technology opens the world
to many of the over 46 million Americans currently trapped behind a communications
barrier.
Ezra Jacob Rapoport, 18 - Speech Compression Engine Based on Principal Analysis
Ezra has developed a solution to one of the top telecommunications
problems, that of the compression of the speech signal to a low-bandwidth
transmission. This technology will enable cost-effective and reliable
speaking over the Internet, cellular telephones or video conferencing
without impinging on the available bandwidths necessary for phone and
data transmission or the necessity of adding bandwidths to meet the needs
of these emerging technologies.
Harris Sokoloff, 18 - HEADS UP (Headphone Emergency
Alert Defense System)
After interviewing several Los Angeles Police Department officials
about the number of injuries and deaths to people who were wearing headsets
to listen to music or other media, Harris developed his concept for an
emergency alert system. It overrides the media coming through the
headset with an emergency alert message to gain their attention to any
loud noises or sirens in their immediate vicinity. This could reduce
death or injury to numerous joggers, walkers or bikers by alerting them
to possible danger that they would otherwise have been unaware of.
Lisa Marie Wright, 15 - Auto-off Candle
Current popularity of lighted candles has led to an increase in
property damage and deaths nationwide due to fires started by candles.
After noticing candles inadvertently left burning at home, Lisa developed
a system of metal bands to control the burn time of candles - just select
the desired burn time and the candle will go out automatically when the
bands, which cut off the fuel for the flame, are reached. To reuse the
candles just reset the bands and light.
