I had the pleasure of attending the Grand Finals for the ABC's New Inventors this week and it was a gala event, complete with many VIP's, media and of course - plenty of creative and inventive people...
You can click on the links below to see the Grand Finalists:
Joinlox Lumiflux lights The Smart Hook System Quiet Wave Biosol
The evening was very entertaining, thanks in many ways to the support crew who kept the audience amused between sets.
A very important part of the evening is an award offered to the inventor who developed an invention with a community focus.
The winner of the 'Les is More New Inventors Award' in memory of Les Miller was presented by Professor Fiona Wood. Graham Tyson inventor of the Motor Straw Drink Dispenser won and with a strong respect of Professor Wood provided an emotional speech of thanks. You can learn more about Graham and the Motor Straw Drink Dispenser here
Another important part of the evening is the Bright Spark Award, for Australia's young inventors. With loads of young inventors recognised throughout the year as shown here, the winner was a clever young lady named Rachel Latimer;
Invention: Easy Girth
A saddle girth that even a kid can tighten..
Inventor: Rachel Latimer
14 year old Rachel Latimer from Wagga Wagga has always loved horses, and so do her four sisters. But some of the younger ones had a lot of trouble getting the girth tight enough to hold the saddle on firmly. Rachel also helps out at Riding for the Disabled and realised there were many people who for one reason or another couldn't manage to pull the girth up with enough strength to tighten it. She was studying pulleys in science at school and suddenly she saw a potential solution.
The Horse Girth Tightener replaces a section of a standard girth with a rope and pulley system consisting of 3 pulleys, a fine rope and a cleat to fix the rope in place. These are located below the buckle on the side the rider mounts from. The girth is attached to the saddle in the standard way, but rather than tightening at the buckle, the girth is left loose and then the tightening is done by pulling on the rope and fixing it to the cleat. The whole system is contained in a fabric sheath, which prevents rubbing on the horse and also keeps the rope and pulleys away from the feet of the rider.
There was also the New Inventors Peoples Choice Awards, with selection made from
Magnoplast, Adjustible Quilters Rulers, Breastfeeding Sling, M.U.M.A., Aquakerb
And the winner was...
Adjustible Quilters Rulers who have already sold over 14,000 and have just started distribution into USA and Denmark.
The presentations were great with some excellent questions from the presenters.
The judges then finally had to select the winner and the winner was selected on benefits including:
Design - JoinLox, Biosol and Lumiflux
Originality - Smarthooks and Biosol
Marketability - Quiet Wave
Then our famous Wobble Board inventor Rolph Harris was introduced to award the New Inventors Invention of the Year.
And the winner was:
Dean Cameron - Inventor of The Year