See-saw to power African schools
British 23 year old Dan Sheridan has designed a see-saw that could provide electricity for a school.
Following a trip to Kenya, the student was inspired by the energy of the children and kept thinking about ways to use this to generate electricity.
He hit upon the idea of a see-saw and started work on his design. He has since won two grants, which will enable him to develop and test his see-saw design. His dream now is to design a whole energy-generating playground.
Simple inventions are often the best. For me, this is in the same category as wind-up radios and torches. So simple, yet so effective.
Additional resources:
BBC News article on Dan Sheridan http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7301354.stm
Coventry University news item on Dan Sheridan http://www.coventry.ac.uk/latestnewsandevents/a/4352