“Inventors are basically anybody and everybody who’s ever tried to solve a problem.”
Alexis Lewis
In 2011, twelve-year-old Alexis Lewis was inspired to invent after reading about children who became lost when their families fled the famine in Somalia. She adapted a traditional Native American sled, called a travois, by adding wheels to create a simpler way to transport families and their belongings.
Alexis continues to invent—she has a patent pending for an emergency smoke filtration kit that can be thrown to someone trapped in a burning building—and she is inspiring other young inventors through invention education.
Source for quote above: “Teenage Inventor Alexis Lewis Thinks That Kids Have the Solutions to the World’s Problems.” Smithsonian Magazine, July 21, 2015, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/teen-inventor-alexis-lewis-wants-kids-to-invent-solutions-to-worlds-problems-180955933/?no-ist.