Throwing a Spotlight on Innovation
Ominous clouds gathered over the parking lot of global design consultancy Continuum in Boston, but that did not dampen the upbeat mood.
As the production crew of the award-winning PBS series Design Squad Nation rolled cameras, three young inventors put their prototypes through the paces.
The three had won the national 2010 Trash to Treasure competition, which challenged kids ages 5 to 19 to recycle, reuse, and re-engineer everyday materials to create the next great green invention. The devices had to fit into one of the three categories: mobility, environmental protection or play.
As part of the prize, the winners were flown to Boston to watch Continuum designers and engineers put the finishing touches on their innovations and appear on Design Squad Nation, a hands-on reality show that fosters the spirit and practice of engineering.
First up on this overcast day was MaryAnn Bulawa, 14, of Ava, N.Y., who invented a low-flush commode she dubbed the Smarter Toilet.
It lets users decide how much water they need to flush. A bottle at the end of a plunger acts like a removable brick, and a trigger mechanism lets the bottle float up if a more powerful flush is needed.
She’s also rigged it so the toilet can use rain water, collected in an outside tank.
“My invention will save millions of gallons of water,” MaryAnn says, noting that “more than 40 percent of daily water requirements are used by toilets.”
(A few days later, MaryAnn took to a bigger stage. She was honored at the White House as part of President Obama’s Science Fair.)
MaryAnn clambered atop a table to demonstrate her acrylic toilet for Design Squad Nation co-hosts Adam Vollmer and Judy Lee. Her toilet is no theoretical exercise. MaryAnn says that she actually built and uses one at her home.
MaryAnn’s sister, Lilly Bulawa, 12, also was a Trash to Treasure winner for her Sibling Soaker, a sort of portable dunk tank.
Water balloons are housed in an acrylic chamber mounted on a sturdy pole above a person’s head. Another player, presumably a sibling, throws a ball or what have you at a target, which slams the sharp end of a lever into a waiting balloon.
Lilly donned a yellow rain slicker and took a seat under a line of water balloons. It took a few attempts, but Judy Lee finally hit the target, sending a torrent on a laughing Lilly.
But wasting water is no joke. Traditional dunking tanks use hundreds of gallons of water. Lilly’s invention uses far less water, but offers just as much fun.
Daniel Kim, 14, of Franklin Lakes, N.J., also was a Trash to Treasure winner. He created the MiBike, turning an old bicycle into a tricked-out kids’ commuter vehicle with side mirrors, a roof to block rain and snow, and a storage compartment for books, pencils and backpacks.
After taking a spin around the parking lot, Daniel dismounted his bike and stepped back to admire the work the Continuum staff did on his design. He summed up his thoughts in one word.
“Awesome!”
About Design Squad Nation
Premiering on PBS in October 2009, the Emmy and Peabody Award-winning series returns in January for its third season with a fresh cast of contestants eager to take on design challenges that task their creative reserves. Design Squad Nation lets kids show off their smarts as they design and build working solutions for real-world clients – people who are hungry for clever ideas from a new generation of innovators. From creating remote-controlled flying football targets for Hasbro to dry land dog sleds for the Jamaica Dog Sled Team, the action culminates in the final episode when the top two scorers battle for the Grand Prize: a $10,000 college scholarship from the Intel Foundation.
Editor’s note: This article appears in the January 2011 print edition.
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