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MONTHLY NEWS October 1997 Summer Is a Time of Invention for a Fourth Grader |
For Ayako Shimizu, a fourth-grader in the city of Akikawa, Tokyo, summer vacation is a time for coming up with inventions.
During this past summer, she devised a special car seat designed to send cool air to the back and hips of the driver. Ayako said she came up with the idea when she saw her father--a flower grower--sweating while making deliveries to a flower market in the summer. She said she hopes her latest invention will win a prize in a national children's invention contest for the third straight year. The young inventor won the Minister of International Trade and Industry Award in the contest two years ago, when she and her brother designed a special elevator system for hospitals and welfare homes. In this system, several cars are connected to spiraling rails in a cylinder. The cars are designed to rotate up and down like a Ferris wheel. Because several cars arrive at different floors simultaneously, handicapped or hospitalized people do not have to wait so long for an elevator. In last year's contest, Ayako won a prize for an earthquake-resistant bookshelf. Ayako's dream is not to become a great inventor like Thomas Edison, though. She says she wants to become a doctor so she can help sick people get better.
Photo: Ayako shows off her car seat and elevator system. (Asahi Shogakusei Shimbun) 
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