BERNE — Middle-school students at Berne-Knox-Westerlo have solved real-life problems with their inventions, which are being recognized at the regional Invention Convention.

From over 1,200 submissions from students in the Capital Region, 13 BKW students’ inventions have been selected as semi-finalists in an annual competition. The inventions are on display at the Schenectady Museum and Suits-Bueche Planetarium through June 7.
"My grandma was getting dialysis three times a week, and she got cold when blood was taken out," said sixth-grader Tom LaDuke, whose invention, Dialysis Sweater, is one of 100 on display at the Schenectady museum.

For his project, LaDuke cut slits in a sweater’s arms, inside the elbow, where interveneous tubes are inserted. He then sewed zippers into them. As his grandmother underwent dialysis treatments, she had to wear a T-shirt, LaDuke said; she completed treatment just before he finished his project.

If put on the market, the sweaters would be custom-made for each patient, LaDuke said.

Erin McIntyre’s invention, Fire Response Box, is a fireproof box, attached by Velcro to the inside of a house’s front door. Within the box is a map outlining the rooms inside and listing the names and ages of all family members; pets are also listed. The response box comes with a sticker, which would be placed on the exterior of a home’s front door to let firefighters know that the house is equipped with a fire response box.

McIntyre, also a sixth-grader, said she got the idea for her invention because her father, Tim McIntyre, is an East Berne volunteer firefighter. When entering a burning house, her father wouldn’t know where each of the family members’ rooms were located, how many people lived there, or their names, she said.

McIntyre said she thinks the invention would help her father do his job better. Both she and LaDuke said they thought Eric Collins’s invention, Pencilite, a mechanical pencil with lights attached to both of its ends, is a good idea. Both McIntyre and LaDuke said they will attend the awards ceremony at the Schenectady Museum at 7 p.m. on June 7 when 25 finalists will be announced.

The 100 semi-finalists were chosen by a panel of patent attorneys and engineers, who based their decisions on creativity, originality, complexity, innovation, practicality, and impact.

BKW middle-school science teacher Karen Barber is impressed by her students’ ingenuity and mystified by the selection process, given the number of good ideas in the competition.
"How do you choose one"" she asked. "There are such good ones that didn’t get chosen."
The invention unit, she said, teaches her students about competition. "If you don’t try, you don’t know how well you’ll do," Barber said.

BKW students whose inventions were chosen, include: Gabriella Audino, Pack-n-Go; Eric Collins, Pencilite; Taylor Della Rocco, The Smart Tracker; Jessica Keppler, Bed Boots; Natalie Marchewka, One Bit Fits All; Makayla McCormick, Safety Burner; Wyatt Moller, A 1 Kindling Splitter; Anthony Pasquini, Gun Stock Hand Muff; Joshua VonHaugg, Sleep Cool Sleeping Bag; Kelsey Wagoner, The Double Cuff Sock; and Lillian White, Electro-Mixer.