Girls invent

Yes, girls invent!

If you don’t think you have any good ideas, listen to Emmy.

Hi, I’m Emmy and I’m in year 8. A while ago my science teacher suggested I get involved in a workshop called Girls Invent. It’s a program where people come to your school and teach you how to make things that people want to buy. And then sell them.

I’d never invented anything before. Well I’d made a dog toy once, but that’s all. So when I first started the program I said to myself, “I don’t have any ideas, how am I even going to do this?” But once you get in there, ideas of products you’d never even thought of before come to mind.

I’ve attended a few Girls Invent classes so far and have started making a system to keep people safe at home. I didn’t expect that I would get so much support for my idea! The Girls Invent teachers really help you to try and actually take your idea out into the business world – even though you’re still at school.

I think my friends like it because it’s not just school work. There aren’t any limits to what you can make and what you can do with it.

How do girls invent?

There are a lot more steps involved in inventing a product than you’d think. First you have to do research to make sure it hasn’t already been invented by someone else.

I enjoyed getting my ideas off the paper and actually making a prototype – which is the first, basic version of your product that you use to test your idea. But it was challenging to keep my idea separate from other security systems around.

I would like to keep inventing and keep working on my safety system. I’m planning to get it to the stage where it can actually be sold in stores for people to buy and hopefully help with saving lives.

If you’re a girl, I’d recommend getting involved in Girls Invent. You don’t get many opportunities like this in your lifetime. Even if you think your idea is a waste of time or it’s not important, just remember to stay positive. Don’t worry if things aren’t going well with your product – it will all come through in the end!

We barely know any female inventors, so don’t you think we should change that?

– Emmy, Year 8, Catholic Ladies College, Eltham

Click here to see more photos from Girls Invent. Or meet some amazing women engineers and inventors here.

“We barely know any female inventors, so don’t you think we should change that?”