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t m c » p u l s e | j u ly 2 0 1 7 16 16 Every Child Can Be a CEO The TMC Young Inventors Forum featured creative solutions to health care problems B y C h r i s t i n e H a l l W hen Mairi, a third-grader, was asked to solve a health care problem as part of a school assign- ment, she thought of her grandmother. Mairi's grandmother was diagnosed with amyo- trophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a disease affecting the nerve cells that control voluntary muscle movement. Watching her grandmother struggle to communicate made Mairi want to find a way to make her grand- mother's life easier. So Mairi and three of her third grade classmates at the British International School of Houston—Anaïs, David and Sophie—conceived Eye Help You, a com- puter that helps ALS patients communicate through eye movements. The device would include eye-tracking technology that sends information to a caregiver. The third- graders even researched similar products and found that those on the market only used letters. They decided their device would need to have full commands using words and pictures. Mairi and her team pitched their idea to an audi- ence of supporters at the TMC Young Inventors Forum in June. The product was so innovative that judges gave the team the "Degree of Impact" trophy. Pitch perfect For the past three years, the British International School of Houston and the Texas Medical Center have partnered on the TMC Young Inventors Forum, a six-week program that teaches 7- and 8-year-old students the fundamentals of innovation and basic health care problems. The students work in teams; each team identifies a problem and devises a solution. To cap off the program each year, the students visit the TMC Innovation Institute, and each team pitches its health care solutions to parents, teachers and a panel of judges made up of community leaders. "This is exciting because we started this program We asked the students to come up with a list of problems that have to do with health care and then come up with solutions. Of course, we get an abundance of solutions for broken limbs because that is what they know, but we work with them to think deeper. — KATE FULLER Head of Primary at the British International School A team of young inventors shows off the Sunshine Cast, which helps absorb vitamin D. Left: William F. McKeon, CEO and president of the Texas Medical Center, speaks to the young inventors. Right: Mairi, second from right, presents the Eye Help You computer with her team. not just for fun, but because invention and entrepre- neurship are skills that should be learned early on in life," said William McKeon, president and CEO of the Texas Medical Center. "Every child can be a CEO of a company, and every child can have an idea that is a breakthrough." This year's forum also saw some returning stu- dents. Eight teams of fifth-graders—the same students who participated in the inaugural Young Inventors Forum—returned to pitch brand-new ideas and showcase an advanced level of entrepreneurship. The fifth-graders added financial information to their prod- ucts, including cost, profit margins and pricing. The judges panel included Julia Andrieni, M.D., vice president of population health and primary care at Houston Methodist Hospital and president and CEO of Houston Methodist Physicians' Alliance for Quality; Karen Bell, consul general of the United Kingdom; Houston City Council members Dwight Boykins and Amanda Edwards; and Bernard Harris, M.D., CEO of Vesalius Ventures.