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College Students' Inventions Tackle Everything From Sticking Ketchup to Sore Feet
By Catherine Groux
Posted May 24, 2012 11:33 AM
College students are creating products to solve household problems.Many people pursue a bachelor's or master's degree with the hopes of creating a product that will change the planet, such as a cure for cancer or a solution for climate change. However, for other students, their education will help them create devices that may not solve the planet's dire problems, but will make life just a little easier and more enjoyable.
Recently, a team of students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology created a product that could save one million tons of food from being thrown out each year - a stick-less ketchup bottle. According to Yahoo News, the engineers used a substance called "LiquiGlide," to create a bottle that ketchup cannot stick to, ending the excessive amount of time people spend shaking ketchup bottles with the hopes of savoring every last drop.
MIT doctorate degree seeker David Smith told Yahoo that LiquiGlide is "kind of a structured liquid - it's rigid like a solid, but it's lubricated like a liquid." Based on this composition, ketchup will easily flow out of a bottle lined with this substance.
Still, MIT is not the only school seeking to end the problem of ketchup getting stuck in its bottle. Harvard University students are also working to create a plant-derived condiment bottle that will hopefully be another solution to this common household problem, Yahoo reports.
Aside from the stick-less ketchup bottle, students across the country have found other unique ways to solve the country's smaller issues. For instance, when Susie Levitt and Katie Shea were juniors at New York University, they created CitySlips, The Huffington Post reports. These small ballet flats can easily fold up to fit in women's purses, making them the perfect shoes to wear on the way home after a long night in heels.
Patrick Whaley, on the other hand, invented Omega Wear when he was studying at Georgia Tech. The student used to add extra pounds to his backpack to get in shape, so he decided to create this line of long-sleeved t-shirts with removable gel inserts. These inserts weigh just enough to enhance individuals' workouts or aid in physical therapy, the Post states.
On the other side of the globe, Harvard University students studying in Africa noticed the country's love of soccer and decided it could help in their need for electricity. The four degree seekers created sOccket, a soccer ball that uses a magnet and coil to create electricity. By kicking this ball around for 15 minutes, players can create enough electrical energy to power an LED light for three hours, according to the Post.
