Patent Holder and Inventor
Who is Alissa Chavez?
In middle school, Alissa Chavez was on her way to becoming a full-fledged inventor. While some students concerned themselves with TV shows and movies, Alissa was concerned about something much different. She was worried about her school’s annual science and invention convention. While brainstorming ideas, Alissa thought about what was a big problem of today. She remembered that there was some new phenomena where mothers would forget their children in hot cars. So Alissa did what scientists do best and created a solution.
Chavez’s mother owned a daycare, and she simply could not imagine any of those children becoming a victim of such a tragedy. Thus, after much research, Chavez learned that although there were alarms for open doors and windows and even forgotten keys, there was no alarm to alert parents to a baby left in their seat. Chavez’s mom picked up new alarm systems from Radio Shack, and Chavez started with her work.
Eventually, she settled on a key fob alarm system to notify parents after they had locked their car if a child was still inside. Since its original development, the product has evolved to include a mobile app that connects to a pressure sensor placed underneath the car seat to detect the presence of the child in the seat.
Chavez was a huge success. She became one of the state semi-finalists of the state fair, gaining an invitation to lunch with the mayor of her city. It was there that she met with a patent attorney who encouraged her to file for a patent and bring the product to market. When she was seventeen, she finally was awarded the patent, becoming the youngest Latina patent holder in the United States.
3 Things We Love About Alissa Chavez:
- She was featured as a Glamour Magazine Woman of the Year!
- She is a TEDx speaker!
- She’s an ambassador for Technolochicas, an organization that prompts young Latinas to explore STEM related fields.
Work Cited