Who is your favorite Inventor? Have you ever invented something or consider about inventing something? Anyhow, out of curiosity for long now I am becoming more interested to challenge myself in becoming one.

There have been so many great inventors across the ages. Benjamin Franklin who invented the lightning rod in 1752, Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the metal detector and the phone in 1876-1881, and Thomas Edison the inventor of the motion picture camera and the light bulb. All these men are great inventors but have you realized that not only adults can be great inventors but so can we, the children of today who can be the mentors of tomorrow.

Now, before I share with you what I am thinking about my invention, I will share some key steps needed to be taken for someone to become an inventor as per J. Gorman:

1. Cultivate an Idea
It is good to start by thinking up your idea/s by being creative based on what problem you’re trying to solve or work on…

2. Build a Prototype
By definition a prototype is a model of your invention that fully functions and is your first model that works.

It is good to be aware that you will or will not need money along the way to make your idea/s into reality. Depending on the complexity of your invention, the cost of good quality prototype can be huge. Of course not to worry so much about money as you can always get money from other financial sources out there.

3. File a Patent
Because odds are, another business has the same idea you have and if they get a patent before you do; well it’s back to the drawing boards. A patent is basically something that shows that your idea can not be used by anyone else and that you cannot copyright it. That way no big business can steal your idea.

4. Test the market
You can go to trade shows to show your invention and see other people’s inventions and you can also make a business team because you might need help with manufacturing, and selling and everything else.

5. Sell It or Make it
You have to choose, are you going to sell your product yourself and invent or make more. Or are you just going to make it and license it (ask someone else to sell it for you)?

Does that sound complicated? I hope not depending on what you’re up to! Some invention can be easy to go about some may not. In my house at least, we like to watch Dragons’ Den show and other shows alike, if you have ever watched one you may be aware about how someone’s business idea/s (kids’ included) can easy be turned into fortune.

There are many ideas crammed into my brain that are filed away as useless because I haven’t tried to put my ideas to use but that could change.

What inspire me most to put my ideas to use is not something simple so I know I will need to learn more and be prepared. I need to have at least a degree in science, may major in engineering or math so that will know how to tweak my invention, how to make it, and how to make it work successfully.

The invention that I would probably show the world would be Star Panels because they could be a daily household name that could really help businesses and families alike. Now I know that Solar Panels have already been invented by Russell Ohl (was not very efficient but has now evolved due to more recent inventors) but I would modify it by making them so that they would work day and night (24/7!). For those of you who don’t know, Solar Panels are panels that turn the Sun’s energy into electricity to make a home function all the while saving money and the polar bears in the North (Global Warming). You see electricity bills are going up every year and contribute in financial drains or bankrupt companies and people around the global. It would be better to be able to save money day in day out in electricity bills.

Solar Panels could very well be our saving grace when it comes to electricity if it worked as well in the night as it does in the day. You are probably wondering how in the world Solar Panels which use the Sun’s energy could work in the night when the Sun is not out, well here is my answer… The Sun is not even close to being the brightest or largest star in the universe. There are other stars bigger than that that remains in the sky when the night comes and the Sun goes. We just can’t see the full size of those stars. Can we? But we can still use their energy in the night time, that way we have electricity all day and night without paying that ridiculous price. So I would invent a Star Panel that uses both the energy of the Sun in the day and the energy of the stars in the night.

That would be one of the very many inventions that I would make if I learned about the science, math, and engineering needed. In fact studies show that kids have a more creative mind than adults, so we can do what adults can do and maybe even do it better. Now you see that kids can put their bright ideas to use and make the world a better place, one invention at a time. What’s your invention idea?

Serena Wambura