Think Big!

Vancouver, Canada

THE PROBLEM: Two years ago, when Liam was in sixth grade, he fell into the ocean during a sailing lesson. Luckily, he was wearing a life jacket that kept him safe. But the water was super cold! Liam and his pal Fraser wanted to find a way to keep people in water emergencies warm.

THEIR SOLUTION: They created LifeHeat, a life jacket that warms up. For two years, they experimented with different levels of chemicals. Last year, the boys thought they had a working vest. But when they jumped into the ocean to test it, they overheated. “It was a good sign that it worked,” Fraser says. “But it worked too well!” They improved their prototype and were named 2022 Innovators of the Year by the Science Fair Foundation of British Columbia. They hope to start selling LifeHeat soon.

San Diego, California

THE PROBLEM: Leanne’s mom suffers from painful ear infections. This inspired Leanne to create a device that could help her mom and others—without expensive medicine. “Not everyone in the world has access to health care,” Leanne explains.

HER SOLUTION: Leanne invented headphones that can detect and treat ear infections. She developed a smartphone app that connects to the headphones. If the app determines you have an infection, a special blue light in the headphones shines into your ear for 45 minutes. That kills the bacteria. Why headphones? The ninth-grader wanted something that would be easy for kids to wear and allow them to watch TV or listen to music while being treated. Last fall, Leanne won the 3M Young Scientist Challenge and was named America’s Top Young Scientist. She plans to use her $25,000 prize to further develop her invention.

Eagle Mountain, Utah

THE PROBLEM: During family trips to California, Madison saw plastic water bottles all over the beach and in the ocean. She wanted to try to reduce pollution.

HER SOLUTION: Madison designed an edible water bottle called Eco-Hero for a school science project. It took about two months for her to come up with the right combination of chemicals to make a bottle you can eat instead of throw away. There was one problem—it didn’t taste very good! So Madison added some lemon juice to change the flavor. The 12-year-old has won local, state, and national science fairs for her invention. She hopes Eco-Hero will inspire others to find ways to help the environment.