Kenneth's 'Vac Sac' invention nominated for The New Inventors People's Choice award
Scots boy Kenneth Miles' (18) new invention -the 'Vac Sac' vaccine cooler - is a finalist for the ABC's The New Inventors People's Choice Award - prestigious nomination awarded to only five new inventors.
Kenneth is the talk of farmers in his home town Scone. A sixth generation farmer, the idea came to Kenneth on a hot summer's day working on his family's farm when he read a vaccine container instructions - 'store between 2-8 Degrees Celsius's and keep out of direct light'. Kenneth realised he had never followed these instructions and talked to other farmers discovering they had experienced similar problems. Kenneth began to question the effectiveness of the vaccine when outside this temperature range and so the 'Vac Sac' project was born.
Kenneth dedicated his HSC Major Design and Technology project to the cause and has spent this year designing, researching, developing prototypes for the 'Vac Sac' -a 'farmer friendly' vaccine bag designed to sustain the effectiveness of vaccines when outside the recommended storage temperatures. The 'Vac Sac' shields the vaccine from direct sunlight and high temperatures in an insulated bag and has a harness so it can be worn in the cattle yards, giving the farmers a 'spare hand' when carrying out the vaccinating process.
Kenneth has tested his prototype in the cattle yards and sought feedback from Stockmen, Stock and Station Agents, Vets and other farmers. Kenneth has patented his product and is delighted to be nominated for the People's Choice award after recently presenting his invention on the ABC television series The New Inventors. The winner of the award will be announced when the program goes to air on Wednesday 25th November on the ABC at 8pm.
"We congratulate Kenneth on his achievement and excellent innovation. His creative thinking and successful design and manufacture of this product will serve the community well," The Scots College Principal Dr Ian PM Lambert said.
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