Three students from Taitung County’s Daniao Elementary School have won gold medals at the Archimedes International Salon of Inventions in Moscow.
The students, Pan Yu-ting (潘妤婷), Cheng Chi-yen (鄭騏彥) and Chang Kang-ning (張康寧) — all of the Paiwan community — became the first Taitung County elementary-school students to win gold medals at the competition, with their design of a wallet that doubles as a drinking vessel.
The three students said the inspiration for the design came to them after a game of basketball when they were thirsty.
Photo: CNA
The students said they could not share a bottle of water they had because one of them had a cough, so Chang suddenly thought it might be useful if their wallets could be converted into cups.
The students said they were convinced the idea was practical as long as they ensured that the wallet was waterproof and could be made into a cup that did not leak water, adding that they visited Taitung’s Pacavalj Fabric Workshop and asked the female employees there to make them a prototype.
The women sewed a zipper bag into a wallet and added a layer of waterproof leather and the idea worked, earning the students first place and a prize of NT$10,000 at the county’s Little Inventors Competition.
The county recommended the students apply for the competition in Moscow, and the school helped with funding and showed them how to obtain a patent for their invention, officials said.
The invention is proof that students in remote areas of the nation have flourishing imaginations, even though they might underperform their urban peers in terms of grades due to a lack of resources, Daniao Elementary School dean Chao Wen-chia (趙文佳) said.
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