Teen noticed homeless people struggling in biting cold — her innovative solution earned her TIME’s first 'Girl of the Year'
Any action born out of love can yield life-changing results. A teenager named Rebecca Young marked her name in history with an innovation that began with a simple purpose powered by kindness, TIME magazine reported. At the age of 11, Young came across the heartbreaking conditions homeless people had to live in when the temperatures dropped. Her hard work and genius mind pushed her to create something unbelievable, gaining her a spot in TIME’s debut “Girls of the Year” list.
The temperatures get bad during the cooler months across different parts of the world. In Glasgow, Scotland, it is as low as 17 degrees. For homeless people living on the streets, with either a blanket or nothing to keep them warm, these conditions can be fatal. When she pondered what to create for the UK Primary Engineer competition, with over 70,000 participants UK-wide, serving these people came to mind, per BBC News. "Seeing all the homeless people, it made me want to help — it's a problem that should be fixed,” she noted. That’s when she came up with something out of this world — solar-powered blankets.
She spent two years demonstrating, sketching, and researching how solar power could be stored seamlessly into blankets for her purpose, My Modern Met reported. At the age of 13, she emerged successful. Designed as backpacks to be portable, the blankets use solar power to give warmth, thereby greatly aiding those struggling during cold days. "During the day, the heat from the sun can energise the solar panels and they go into a battery pack that can store the heat. When it's cold at night, people can use the energy stored in the battery pack to sleep on,” Young explained.
The engineering company, Thales, was inspired by the teenager’s innovation and sponsored the manufacturing of a few blankets. Young’s mother, Louise, was beyond proud of her daughter’s achievement that will make a humane difference in the lives of many. “It's all come from a drawing and going from that to it being made is amazing,” she remarked. BBC Newsround revealed that her discovery has impressed the world, and she deserves all the recognition. She appeared in TIME’s very first list of “Girls of the Year,” designed to appreciate and applaud noteworthy individuals and their contributions.
Along with this esteemed feature, TIME also partnered with LEGO to reward and remember Young for her exceptional work. A mini Lego figure has been created depicting the 13-year-old. While Young doesn’t intend to pursue engineering, she surely hopes those with an interest will not hesitate to experiment. “It helped me see a different aspect of engineering and how it could actually help people. That definitely helped inspire me,” she added. Thales plans to manufacture more of these blankets. A few have been given to the Homeless Project Scotland in Glasgow. Colin McInnes, the founder of Homeless Project, noted, “When somebody is having a rough time because the shelter is full, we can offer the comfort of having warmth" with the blanket to wrap around. "We would 100% take the opportunity to have more of them," he added.
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