I’m an inventor; I spend my days developing ways to make machines that work better. I want you to do the same. What could you invent?
Good ideas come from frustration and trying to solve a problem. You won’t solve it straight away: the first Dyson vacuum cleaner was the result of 5,127 failed attempts to make a machine that worked better. But I kept trying until I had perfected it.
It’s always good to have a pencil and sketch pad by your side to make a note. A quick sketch is a good way to communicate an idea quickly, and it means you don’t forget it. It also means that you can prove the idea was yours. Alec Issigonis roughly sketched the concept for his iconic car, the Mini, on a napkin while having dinner; and the first sketch of the Sydney Opera House was done on the back of an envelope.
Once you have sketched your idea, try to make it out of anything that’s handy: cardboard, spaghetti, tin foil, wood, plastic. This is a prototype. It won’t work properly but, like a 3-D sketch, it illustrates your idea. Engineers use prototypes to show how their ideas will look and work before spending lots of money making the real thing.
Make some prototypes of your own inventions — that’s what design and engineering students will be doing for this year’s James Dyson Award, which opens for entries today. Try it at home or in design and technology class at school — see what you can invent.
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Young people’s brilliant inventions
Tim Whitehead, 22, invented a water bottle that filters and sterilises water from a lake or a stream in two minutes. Once the water is clear it is sterilised for 90 seconds using a wind-up ultraviolet bulb — then it is safe to drink. His invention, Pure, won the UK leg of the James Dyson Award last year.
Yusuf Muhammad and Paul Thomas, 26, invented Automist,which not only detects a fire but can put it out as well. It’s a device that fits on to a standard kitchen tap. In the event of a fire, a wireless heat detector triggers the under-sink pump, driving mains water through a nozzle and quickly filling the kitchen with a fine mist to put out the blaze.
Samuel Adeloju, 24, designed a life -saving buoyancy device to help those at risk of drowning. His system uses grenade technology to propel a life ring up to 150m — which is why he has called it Longreach.
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Are you a budding Brunel?
Isambard Kingdom Brunel was the genius behind the Great Western Railway — the series of tunnels and bridges connecting London with the South West and Wales. Through years of testing, he developed an expert understanding of the strengths and constraints of materials and the structural ability of different shapes.
Now here’s your challenge: to build a bridge out of spaghetti that’s strong enough to support a 250g bag of sugar.
What you’ll need
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Spaghetti; Small elastic bands or bag ties; Sticky tape; Plenty of patience
Bridges manage two important forces: compression and tension — pushing and pulling. Too much of either and they buckle or snap. Be patient: through trial and error you’ll become proficient with spaghetti, bracing strands together for strength; forming rigid shapes that absorb loads; and using elastic bands and sticky tape at junctions.