The Daily Southerner, Tarboro, NC

Local News

July 11, 2012

Students shine at Innovators Academy

Staff Writer MIRANDA BAINES

TARBORO — ROCKY MOUNT — Solving everyday problems. That was the task assigned to Edgecombe County middle school students participating in a summer Middle School Innovators Academy. The students presented their product ideas to an audience of educators and parents at West Edgecombe Middle School Monday morning.

“The kids come up with an everyday problem and they find a solution to it,” said Dr. Kathy Lawson, community outreach specialist in education at North Carolina State University (NCSU) and the Upper Coastal Plain Learning Council. “It’s a high-level process that involves art, science and design engineering.”

Kristian Herring, assistant principal at West Edgecombe Middle School, said he was “blown away” by the students’ presentations.

“It [the Academy] opened up a lot of different avenues and ways of thinking. It allowed them to dig really, really deep in their thought processes,” said Herring.

Jack Coltrane, a rising eighth grader, came up with the innovative, yet practical design for a jellyfish brush that removes stingers and barbs that are lodged into the body and eases the pain of the sting with a vinegar solution. Coltrane’s idea comes from firsthand experience dealing with jellyfish stings.

“We keep a boat on Bath Creek, and we’ve been plagued by jellyfish. Everybody has a different trick [for dealing with stings] and he’s combined everybody’s idea into one,” said Jonathan Coltrane, Jack’s father.

Jonathan said the Innovators Academy has taught his children that in order to be an innovator, “you don’t have to reinvent the whole wheel,” but rather draw from ideas and products already in existence and build upon them. That’s what his daughter, Yancey Coltrane, did. The rising seventh grader designed a product called the “Spritz n’ Straight” with the goal of “reducing the hassle of straightening your hair by combining the straightener and straightening spray in one product.” She came up with the idea one day when her hair straightener fell on her foot as she reached for the straightening spray.

“I think the program was very fun,” said Yancey. “While we were here, we learned some drawing tips.”

The complex product designs required the students to learn 3-D drawing techniques.

Destiny Saunders developed the idea for a portable “Cooling Mat” with adjustable straps designed to protect laptops users from burns. Nathan Taylor, a disc golf and sports enthusiast, designed a “Cooling Sports Bag” to keep drinks cool without getting other belongings wet. Alexis Miller designed a “Doggy Domicile” to provide dogs a comfortable living environment while preventing puddles from forming in the doghouse. The “Doggy Domicile” features solar-powered panels on the roof.

Students from NCSU and East Carolina University (ECU) helped the middle school students develop their product designs. While the middle school students ultimately used the same thought processes as college students to develop their product ideas, they had a critical advantage over older students.

“They are opinionated. They’ve got strong ideas about things,” said Percy R. Hooper, Director of Product Development and Entrepreneurship and Associate Professor of Industrial Design at NCSU. “It’s easy for them to spot things that are not going exactly right.”

Every day at the two-week Innovators’ Academy, the students were asked to record their ideas in an “idea” notebook. That was the starting point for the students’ product designs. The goal of the Academy is to teach the students how to innovate a product that is “patent-worthy,” according to Hooper. He said the students were all required to do patent searches on their proposed products to see what is already on the market.

Dr. J. Ted Morris, Associate Vice Chancellor of Engagement, Innovation and Economic Development at ECU, said the aim of the Academy is to introduce a “culture of creativity and entrepreneurship” to Edgecombe County with the ultimate goal of boosting the economy.

This is the first year that a program like the Innovators Academy has taken place outside the campuses of ECU or NCSU. The Upper Coastal Plain Learning Council/ NCSU community outreach specialists linked the ECU/ NCSU team with the students at the Edgecombe County Public Schools. Principals at the Edgecombe County middle schools selected the students to participate in the Innovators Academy.

“We’re hoping that we’ll have the funds to expand it next year,” said Lawson. She said she would like to see an “innovators’ club” form in the Edgecombe County Public Schools and meet throughout the school year.

 

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