Ann Makosinski's Invention: Battery-Free "Hallow" Flashlight, Global Finalist Google Science Fair 2013
15-year-old Ann Makosinski of Victoria, British Columbia invented a flashlight that works even without batteries. She is scheduled to present her battery-free flashlight at the global Google Science Fair 2013.
Ann Makosinski said her hallow flashlight is powered by the "heat of the human hand". She used peltier tiles set on an aluminum tube that transfers or take out the heat quickly. By placing a palm on the peltier tiles and letting the other side cool with the ambient air--Viola! the electricity is generated.
Reasons why she came up with idea of hallow flashlight
Makosinski said that batteries emit terrible chemicals which can cause environmental hazards if not disposed properly. More importantly, she said;
"I've been to the Philippines quite a few times, and in some of these villages I know some of the boys and girls there personally and some of them in particular have failed their grades solely because they just didn't have any light to study in." She added, "imagine what it would be like if they could just have free access to light, such as my flashlight to use."
Ann Makosinski also highlighted other purposes of her invention such as medical use and for electronic devices. Towards the end of the video, Ann said that she is so excited to represent Canada (not Philippines) at the Google Science Fair in Mountain View , California on September 23, 2013.
The Grand Prize of this year's competition includes a 10-day trip to the Galapagos Islands with National Geographic Expeditions, a $50,000 in scholarship funding from Google and a personalized LEGO prize and one set of LEGO MINDSTORMS, signed by LEGO's CEO, owner and the LEGO MINDSTORMS design.
Makosinski, who just finished Grade 10, has been entering science fairs since Grade 6 and really enjoys researching and experimenting at an intense level.
Good luck to your presentation Ann!
FYI! The Google Science Fair is an online science competition sponsored by Google, Lego, CERN, National Geographic and Scientific American. The competition is open to 13–18 year old students around the globe, who formulate a hypothesis, perform an experiment, and present their results.