A NEW solution to an age-old ‘sticky’ problem has won Chelsea student Bridgette Veneris a trip to NASA in America and $500 for St Joseph’s primary school.
The lateral-thinking ten year old has just won the littleBIGidea competition for her sticky plaster dispenser, which is now being patented and will hopefully be on the supermarket shelves in the not-too-distant future.
So impressed were competition organisers with her idea that judge James O’Loghlin, host of the ABC’s New Inventors TV show, flew down from Sydney last Tuesday to surprise Bridgette at school with news of her win.
The win is particularly special for the family, who have endured a tough 12 months after Bridgette was diagnosed with leukaemia last year.
Bridgette’s mum Sharon said the family was “blown away” by the win, and was looking forward to a family holiday in America when the young science buff’s chemotherapy finishes in 18 months.
Ms Veneris said Bridgette’s idea came about during her cancer treatment and weekly blood tests when she noticed the difficulty nurses had opening sticky plasters, and the waste created by peeling off the sticky covers.
“We are so proud of her, she did this all on her own because she is interested in things and loves to discover,” she said.
“So after seeing how frustrating it was for nurses to try to open sticky plasters with their rubber gloves on, she started playing around with rolls of sticky tape to test out her idea.
“It took a few goes to get it right, but she drew some diagrams and sent them off to the competition, and they loved it.”
St Joseph’s Primary School principal Gavan O’Donnell said Bridgette was an “amazing” student who approached her cancer battle with the same energy and positive approach that she had for school and learning.
“It is great news and we are so excited for Bridgette and her family,” he said.
The littleBIGidea competition is run by Origin Energy and invites students from grades 3 to 8 to come up with a great idea, big or small, and then describe it in words or in a video.
First published in the Chelsea Mordialloc Mentone News – 16 November 2016
