COLUMBUS, Ohio — Inventor Anuki Mudalige is a 7th grader at Olentangy Orange Middle School who has been working on perfecting a vent system after having personal experience with it.
“My dad always tells me to run upstairs and turn off the vent,” she said. “Because we don’t need to heat up rooms we’re not using.”
She’s been working on her smart iVent System for a couple of months, trying to find a solution for a common everyday concern of saving energy costs.
“My vent has a motor, and this is what turns on the retainer bar in the panel. This is how the airflow comes in and out. And then I have a Bluetooth and Z-Wave transmitter in this receiver. So this is how it communicates with both the thermostat at the thermometer,” said Mudalige.
Fifty global, national, and state award-winning inventors had the chance to present their creations to members of the public, including state lawmakers.
Robin Hilsmeier, executive director of the Ohio Invention League, said it’s a great way for students to show their problem-solving STEM skills.
“Each of the students self-selected a problem from their community, from their world, and went through the invention process in order to create a prototype, and solve a problem,” said Hilsmeier.
Luke Sarver, an 8th grader at Ohio Connections Academy, faced the problem of combatting loneliness and boredom during the pandemic.
He calls his game Change.
“The objective of the game is to stop your opponent from being able to move their L-piece, so when you stop them from moving your L-piece, you win. It’s just made out of paper and coins and an hourglass that I found. The second prototype is to the right, where I printed off a 3D printer,” said Sarver.
Both Sarver and Mudalige said they look forward to what the future holds and say invention convention has helped them with confidence and thinking bigger.
“I was kind of shy before and it’s helped me improve my communication skills and presentation skills. I’ve started to see like different small problems that I can help fix,” said Mudalige.
