And Davis won by solving a chronic problem for her grandfather — and many other people, especially those battling illness.
“My grandpa had trouble, because he has low mobility, of getting tissues while he was in bed. He was always knocking things over while trying to get tissues. So, I thought I could help him by making something that could go up on his bed frame,” said the 7th grader from Queen of Peace School in Hamilton.
And after some research and design work, Davis literally flipped the problem upside down and created her solution of “No Issue Tissue.”
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
With some input from her grandfather, she developed a tissue box that could attach on bed headboard so it’s positioned over the sleeping person’s head with the tissue dispenser slot facing downwards.
The specially designed tissue box is easy to reach and doesn’t require a person to reach across a bed side table and whatever things, such as pill bottles, glasses of water, books, etc., might also be on the table, which is an especially a troublesome move in the middle of the night, said Davis.
After creating a short video showing off her invention and entering it, she won first place in regional rounds in June.
And earlier this week Davis was told she won the top prize in the Industry Innovator Home Organization/Household Tools, 6th-12th grade category for Ohio, which includes $450 and advancement to national competition, where winners will be announced in January.
Queen of Peace teacher Melissa Moser said Davis’ work toward her invention included fulfilling the contest rules by initially surveying her family and friends for problems that needed solutions.
“She had come up with at least a couple of prototypes before coming up with this one,” said Moser, who is the instructor in charge of encouraging such creativity among the school’s students.
Also winning regional honorable mentions from the school were students: Kylie Karwisch; Nathan Abner and Isabele Garcia.
In their announcement of Davis’ win officials with the Ohio Invention League’s Invention Convention stated the program “provides a statewide setting for young inventors and entrepreneurs from across the state to compete and be recognized for advancements in problem solving through invention education.”
“Students develop design-thinking skills, cognitive flexibility, collaboration, critical and creative-thinking, as well as an innovative and entrepreneurial mindset,” said officials.
Her mother, Theresa Davis, marveled at her daughter’s creativity and initiative in researching and creating “No Issue Tissue.”
“As her parents we are super proud of Ann Marie’s hard work and months of working through this invention process. She put in a lot of hours building and designing the prototype. To win a prize like this is really amazing at her age of 12.”
The young inventor summed up her first foray into product creation by saying: “It was pretty cool … I got to invent something.”
Photojournalist Nick Graham contributed to this report.
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