Impact Spotlights

In celebration of Women’s History Month, we’re spotlighting women whose ideas and inventions are aimed at improving lives and solving global problems. “I was always trying to figure out the magic that made things tick.” That’s how Jeanelle Dao, an eighth grader from San Jose, California, describes her earliest childhood inclinations toward invention. Last year,…

Throughout history, innovators from diverse backgrounds have helped change the world and improve lives. To celebrate Black History Month, we’re highlighting 12 past and present Black inventors whose impact ranges from medicine to voting accessibility. In February, we commemorate Black History Month and celebrate National Inventors’ Day — an opportunity to showcase both pioneering Black…

A close encounter with a California wildfire inspired 16-year old Prisha Shroff to design a system to mitigate devastating blazes in the future. When she was 13 years old, Prisha Shroff saw something that made her want to change the world. She was in the car with her family, driving from Los Angeles to their…

A pattern-sensing doormat was inspired by eighth grader Jeanelle Dao’s family history with hand disability. An eighth grader at Stratford San Jose Middle School in California, Jeanelle Dao is unlocking a solution to a problem that she learned about through her grandfather. He had arthritis in his hands, which made opening doors with a key…