A Canadian teen inventor is taking her ingenious battery-free flashlight to the Google Science Fair in California this weekend.
Ann Makosinski – who is just 15 years old -- will join 17 other finalists from around the world at the Google Headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. Saturday, to showcase her flashlight that runs without batteries.
"That's going to be super exciting for me – I think just for meeting all the contestants there and presenting to the judges and hearing their ideas," Makosinski told CTV’s Canada AM on Friday.
The flashlight works by simply holding your hand tightly around a hollow barrel, where it heats the top of four Peltier tiles. Due to the temperature difference between the hand-heated tiles and the underside where an aluminum tube keeps things cool, enough electricity is generated to power the light.
Makosinski said she got the idea for her flashlight after researching thermoelectric generators online.
"I think the Internet just has so much availability and information available for us, and I don't think enough people are taking advantage of it," Makosinski said.
Makosinski is the only Canadian among 18 finalists – chosen from a field of 90 contenders -- attending the Google Science Fair. Entries include a universal measuring apparatus, an environmentally friendly method of cleaning water, and a treatment for liver inflammation.
Regardless of whether she wins the competition, Makosinski says her flashlight has a lot of real-world uses.
"I think it has a lot of potential for emergency devices, emergency kits, and I also think it has potential for people or children who just don't have any access to electricity and light," Makosinski said.
The demo video of Makosinski's battery-free flashlight has more than a million views on YouTube.
"I didn't think this was going to be the reaction, I'm really shocked," she said.
The Google Science Fair runs from Saturday Sept. 21 to Monday Sept. 23 when a winner will be crowned.
