September 26, 2025 • 26 mins
What happens when two eighth-grade students notice a problem during volleyball matches? They create an award-winning invention that could soon hit store shelves nationwide.
Meet Sam Priest and Olivia Adams, volleyball players turned inventors who developed the "Untie Knot" – an elegantly simple silicone band that prevents shoelaces from coming untied during physical activity. Their invention journey began when they witnessed a teammate's shoe come untied during a match, causing an awkward game stoppage.
Through their school's Inventionland Education course, these young innovators learned to apply observational skills, research, and creative problem-solving to address this everyday annoyance. Through multiple prototypes, they discovered that shoelaces come untied through repeated impact forces during running or walking. Their solution? A stretchy silicone band that securely wraps around the knot to keep it tight.
The most remarkable aspect of Sam and Olivia's story isn't just their clever invention, but how the experience transformed their confidence and future outlook. Before the course, neither considered themselves inventors or had interest in STEM careers. Now, they have a company in Texas interested in bringing their product to market. Their success showcases the power of applied learning – combining mathematics, language arts, design, and science to solve real-world problems.
Their story demonstrates why hands-on STEM education deserves priority in our schools. It teaches not just technical knowledge but crucial life skills: creative thinking, collaboration, perseverance, and effective communication. As Sam advises future inventors: "Just be creative and share a lot of ideas. We had no clue what we were going to make when we started this, but it all worked out."
Want to discover how STEM education could unlock your child's potential? Listen to Sam and Olivia's full journey in this inspiring episode.
For more information about the innovations that are shaping tomorrow's world, head to https://tomorrowsworldtoday.com/
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:01):
Welcome to the Tomorrow's World Today podcast.
We sit down with experts,world-changing innovators,
creators, and makers to explorehow they're taking action to
make tomorrow's world a betterplace for technology, science,
innovation, sustainability, thearts, and more.
SPEAKER_04 (00:18):
Hello, everybody, and welcome to another edition
of Tomorrow's World Today.
And today I have two youngup-and-comers.
We have Sam Priest and OliviaAdams.
Welcome to the show.
SPEAKER_02 (00:33):
Thanks for having us.
SPEAKER_04 (00:35):
Well, they just won the big invention contest, and
they're gonna kind of tell us alittle bit about how this all
happened.
So can you tell us a little bitabout your school and its
participation in the InventionLand course?
SPEAKER_01 (00:51):
Yeah, we have two teachers, a tech ed teacher and
a computer teacher, and they'regreat.
SPEAKER_04 (00:57):
Oh, that's a big part of it, isn't it?
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
Teachers that are great make iteasy.
SPEAKER_03 (01:02):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (01:02):
So can you tell us a little bit about yourselves?
I mean, let's let's learn alittle bit about you first, Sam.
What's your background?
SPEAKER_02 (01:10):
I play volleyball, and that's how like we kind of
came up with the idea, is fromsports and stuff.
SPEAKER_01 (01:16):
All right.
Yeah, we both play volleyballfor our school.
She plays on a club team.
SPEAKER_04 (01:22):
I see.
So, well, since you've juststarted the process of looking
at the problem, right, in thesport that you were playing, why
don't we why don't we focus alittle bit on that?
In your course, did you did youlearn about uh how to use
observational skills and how toidentify problems to come up
with some sort of an idea?
SPEAKER_01 (01:43):
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, we actually got our ideabecause one of our teammates,
her shoe came untied during amatch, and it's like super
awkward.
Like you're like rushing to tieyour shoe and you don't actually
like get your shoe like fullytied, and it just keeps coming
inside.
SPEAKER_04 (01:57):
And that happened in the middle of a game?
Yeah.
Oh, well, that's that's prettydisruptive.
unknown (02:01):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (02:02):
Pretty embarrassing.
I mean, do they stop the game ordo they let it keep going on?
SPEAKER_01 (02:07):
They just stop the game.
SPEAKER_04 (02:08):
Oh, so you have to tie your shoe in front of the
entire audience?
Oh, well, that is a big problem.
Uh-huh.
Yeah, that's that that's I don'tknow if I'd like to do that
either.
Yeah.
So let's so this idea is allabout stopping that problem from
happening, right?
Can you talk a little bit aboutuh your idea?
SPEAKER_01 (02:26):
Yeah, it literally just wraps around the knot of
your shoelace.
Like obviously, if you like pullit, it'll come on side, but like
your shoes come on side by likeforces when you like run or
walk.
So this like keeps your knottight so it doesn't come on
side.
SPEAKER_04 (02:41):
Very nice.
And I like its simplicity.
SPEAKER_01 (02:44):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (02:44):
That's one of the things that you know I noted
earlier.
You know, sometimes it'ssometimes it can be pretty
difficult making something,let's say complex, but figuring
out a way to make it simple isis tough sometimes.
So can you go through theprocess with me a little?
I mean, we now know how youdiscovered the problem, but you
started to work on a solution.
(03:06):
So was it in the mind, or didyou see other products that you
thought held things welltogether?
Or how did you come up with thisspecific with this specific
design?
Do you recall?
SPEAKER_01 (03:20):
Yeah, there was the the clip.
Yeah, the we saw a clip, but itwas like plastic in it.
There was like a bunch ofreviews how it like came
unclipped.
Okay.
So and it wasn't stretchy, likeyou know, you could have like
different size knots, likethicker shoelaces.
SPEAKER_04 (03:35):
I see.
SPEAKER_01 (03:35):
So we wanted to have it stretchy, so any size knot.
SPEAKER_04 (03:40):
Nice.
So it's a universal design, andit's pretty simple to make,
right?
SPEAKER_01 (03:44):
Yeah, really simple.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (03:45):
I mean, you made quite a few prototypes.
Yeah.
I mean you blew the you blew thejudges away, I heard.
So you know, then you did a goodjob in there.
Yeah.
So did you start the course withthe contest in mind?
SPEAKER_01 (04:01):
No, we had no clue what we were gonna make.
So we had to share our ideas,like okay.
SPEAKER_04 (04:08):
So you didn't did you didn't know that there was
gonna be a contest at the end ofthis course, or did you think
there was gonna be one?
SPEAKER_02 (04:14):
We knew, like he told us.
SPEAKER_01 (04:16):
Ah yeah, we were just like that's so far away,
like we have so much time.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (04:21):
It's kind of scary because you don't know if you're
gonna be able to come up with anidea, huh?
SPEAKER_01 (04:25):
Yeah, really.
We had no clue what we weregonna make.
Yeah.
But here we are.
SPEAKER_04 (04:31):
I think when you're in the beginning parts of this
course and they're you knowteaching you how to identify
problems, right?
You because you already haveyour own observational skills.
That's just inside all of us.
But it's how do we pull thatout, right?
SPEAKER_01 (04:47):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (04:47):
And then apply it in a way that you could help
others.
SPEAKER_01 (04:50):
Yeah.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (04:51):
Yeah.
What are some of the cool thingsyou learned in the course?
And how is this different frommaybe other courses you've taken
in the school?
SPEAKER_02 (05:00):
We had to do a lot of thinking, more thinking than
like math or reading.
The hardest part was coming upwith an idea of to make it out
of.
Like the silicone idea.
SPEAKER_04 (05:15):
So you had to apply thinking, your own creative
thinking, not just a process ofdo this math problem and then
you generate this solution,right?
So we refer to that as appliedthinking.
Yeah, we had a lot of freedom,like yeah, like freedom like
that can be fun.
It could be a little scary ifyou don't really know where
(05:37):
you're going.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So you said one of the otherchallenges was figuring out the
right material, right?
So how do you how did youexplore material science?
SPEAKER_02 (05:47):
Well, we just went, we wanted it to be stretchy.
Like when we first started, weknew we wanted it to be
stretchy.
So the first thing that came toour mind that was like durable
and stretchy was silicon.
SPEAKER_04 (05:56):
Silicon, okay, yeah.
Yeah.
Did you have silicon like in theSometimes you have it with
sports, you know, they have thatstretchy tie-off.
Is that where you found yoursilicon?
SPEAKER_01 (06:07):
We just looked up like silicone sheets on Amazon.
SPEAKER_04 (06:10):
Okay.
Oh, so you you knew theprinciples of the material and
then went and found your ownresource, right?
Yeah.
Okay, great stuff.
Sometimes what we'll do is we'llfind it what in what we call our
magic bins, and then we juststart cutting and hacking.
Before you know it, we actuallyhave a raw material.
So it's kind of fun to do itthat way, too.
(06:31):
Do you think this course helpedyou think more about your future
or you know what you might wantto do one day?
SPEAKER_01 (06:38):
Yeah, I've like I've never tried to invent something,
so this is so different, and itwas super fun.
SPEAKER_04 (06:44):
That's great.
That's great to hear.
Yeah.
All right.
Well, that it sounds like wehave something in common.
Because I was when I was yourwhen I was your age, we were
inventing all sorts of stuff.
I had I had some wonderfulpeople in my life when I was
younger.
So what was it like for the twoof you working as a team?
SPEAKER_01 (07:01):
It was it was fun because we've been friends for a
while.
So it was nice.
Like I wouldn't want to workwith anybody else.
Any funny moments you can sharewith us?
SPEAKER_02 (07:11):
Not off the top of my head.
SPEAKER_01 (07:13):
It was just fun to like work with her.
Like it like made me get throughthe time like quicker.
We were talking.
Like we would cut these, likewe'd have the silicone sheets
and cut them, and we would justtalk the whole time and it would
go by so fast.
SPEAKER_02 (07:26):
Like we would be working on like creating
prototype, and it was just likemuscle memory at that point
because we were just constantlyusing more and more.
It's like we just talk aboutsomething that happened in the
class yesterday or before oranything, really.
SPEAKER_04 (07:38):
Isn't it amazing?
And when you're inventing stuff,it's like you're in a time warp.
It's like you blink your eyesand you're like, wait a minute,
four hours just disappeared.
How'd that happen?
Yeah, we have that happen allthe time.
It's it's kind of funny, but itit really is like a time warp.
Do you think other schools mightbenefit their kids?
Do you think this would besomething good for all schools
(07:59):
to have?
SPEAKER_01 (08:00):
Yes, for sure.
It's like super creative, likeit's just super fun to do.
SPEAKER_02 (08:06):
I feel like it might help kids, like say they're like
us and we're you get on thepodcast and everything, and
they'll put their name out therefor maybe something in the
future, like if they do pickwant to become a STEM like
career, then it has their nameout there from when they were
younger.
SPEAKER_04 (08:22):
Right.
Oh, and it that definitely willhappen here.
And you're applying things,right?
So when you cut these, I noticedthey're all the same size.
So you had to figure out atemplate or you were using math
somewhere along the way, right?
So that's applied math.
You have packaging here that haslanguage all over it, right?
So you're applying English.
SPEAKER_03 (08:42):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (08:43):
You have different fonts and sizes of your text, so
that's part of your art class.
I mean, you apply you applied alot of the different classes
that you that you are in anyway,right?
But you just have the freedom toplay now.
SPEAKER_03 (08:58):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (08:58):
That's fun.
So what's your thought on theimportance of learning STEM?
SPEAKER_02 (09:05):
I think that it'll help kids like with their
future.
Like before this product, Idon't think I could have sat
down with somebody and like, Idon't know, like worked and
constantly worked and worked andworked just to get something
done.
SPEAKER_04 (09:19):
Yeah, so that collaboration, working with one
another.
SPEAKER_02 (09:23):
Working with another person.
Like when you get older and youget a job, you're gonna have
co-workers, you're gonna have towork with other people in an
office.
SPEAKER_04 (09:29):
That is a real skill.
You that really empowers yourteam to be able to brainstorm
better, problem solve better,right?
And and learning how to be agood team member in this
environment of STEM or work isprobably pretty similar to what
you were doing with volleyball,right?
(09:49):
So you you probably have apretty good connection with your
other volleyball teammates,right?
SPEAKER_01 (09:54):
So Yeah, we actually made them, she made her team
wear these.
SPEAKER_02 (09:57):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (09:58):
Oh really?
SPEAKER_02 (09:58):
Yeah, toilet my two-day toilet in West Virginia
and the whole team wore them.
SPEAKER_04 (10:02):
And how'd that go?
SPEAKER_02 (10:03):
It worked, they worked, we stayed tied.
I stayed tied.
SPEAKER_04 (10:06):
Did you win?
SPEAKER_02 (10:07):
No, we got second.
We got second in the market.
SPEAKER_04 (10:12):
Darn.
All right.
So how would you like motivateor encourage other students to
do inventing, let's say?
How would if you were if you hadthe opportunity to reach out to
other students around thecountry, what what do you think
might get them engaged?
SPEAKER_02 (10:30):
It's uh it's hard to sit down at first with somebody
and just brainstorm without likeI I always was kept waiting for
like the hands-on part.
It's hard to just sit down andthink about it and draw it out,
but I just kept looking at likethe end result, like the bigger
picture.
Yeah.
And like where we'd end up if wewon, like if we did.
SPEAKER_04 (10:48):
Okay, so you worked backwards from the success.
So you were looking at I want toachieve this objective, and you
worked backwards to f to it.
SPEAKER_03 (10:58):
Yeah.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (10:59):
That's that's a really good way to do it.
And then you break it up intopieces, right?
And chase your goals.
Yeah, very nice.
So if you were to say to kidsout there why they should
participate, why?
Why should they do this?
SPEAKER_01 (11:12):
Um, super fun.
Like we didn't think we would behere and we're here.
Like you never know what canhappen.
SPEAKER_02 (11:18):
It really it also grew me and Olivia together for
sure.
SPEAKER_04 (11:22):
You know, why do you think STEM and STEAM education
is like so important in ourschools today?
SPEAKER_02 (11:29):
It can like help you to build a bigger career once
you get out of high school andonce you get older.
SPEAKER_04 (11:35):
Yeah.
For me, I think it also helps mewith just life in general.
You have a better understandingof like how the world works, you
know, science, technology,engineering, math, and then you
throw in art, it's prettyexciting.
SPEAKER_01 (11:48):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (11:49):
Yeah.
Do you need to be a STEM orSTEAM expert to take this
course?
SPEAKER_01 (11:53):
No, we had no idea what this was, but it was a
learning experience for sure.
SPEAKER_02 (11:59):
We had no idea what we were getting to when we
started.
SPEAKER_04 (12:02):
So you learned how to actually develop an idea,
didn't you?
SPEAKER_01 (12:05):
Uh-huh.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (12:06):
Yeah.
Was that exciting?
SPEAKER_01 (12:08):
Yeah, it was much fun.
SPEAKER_04 (12:10):
Yeah.
I think it is too.
Can you talk about how yourteacher or teachers supported
you through the process?
SPEAKER_02 (12:18):
It was nice having two teachers with two different
classes.
Like I feel like some of thekids thought they were limited
only to the teacher that theywere assigned to.
But we we went and presented toour actual teacher and then the
other teacher to get feedbackfrom both of them.
Yeah.
Because maybe one thoughtsomething and the other thought
(12:39):
something completely different.
Yeah.
Yes.
And it gave us like twodifferent perspectives on the
product.
SPEAKER_04 (12:44):
Nice.
And those two teachers that thattaught you the course, did they
uh did they specialize in aspecific area or yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (12:53):
One is tech ed and then one is computer.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (12:57):
Okay.
So your te so your school wentthrough uh what's called
professional development, right?
And that that they were learningthe invention land education
course.
And then so now they're applyingit as well in a school with you.
SPEAKER_03 (13:09):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (13:09):
Right.
Yeah.
Okay.
And then how did your teacherinspire you to uh push further?
And what challenges did you facealong the way?
SPEAKER_02 (13:19):
Both of them really helped us.
Like if we were like strugglingwith a problem, they tried to
help us like see the biggeridea, the bigger picture, and
give us like a solution oranother idea.
SPEAKER_03 (13:30):
Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_01 (13:31):
Yeah, for sure.
They gave us so like so manyideas, and if it didn't work, we
just moved on and tried tofigure something else out.
SPEAKER_04 (13:38):
Gotcha.
And so in this situation, youlearned how to look at a problem
out there in the world, didn'tyou?
And you wanted to make somethingbetter for people.
SPEAKER_03 (13:50):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (13:50):
Right?
And you you discovered this on afield of sports, didn't you?
Yeah.
Can you talk a little bit aboutyou know how you utilized what
you were learning in the course?
Like how to utilize yourobservational abilities,
ideation, coming up with ideas,let's say maybe making a model.
(14:12):
How did all of that shape yourprogress on this project?
SPEAKER_02 (14:18):
We started with like a really long piece of silicone
with many holes in it.
And when we tried it out, likeon the actual tennis shoe, we
realized that it wasn't veryideal.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (14:28):
I see.
SPEAKER_02 (14:28):
And then we kept getting smaller, like we got to
this size but with two holes init.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (14:34):
And we realized it was just the silicone was
stretchy, so we really justneeded one hole.
Yeah.
And that was perfect.
SPEAKER_04 (14:41):
I see.
So the untie knot, which is whatwe're talking about today, what
you're saying is now you youbasically fail what we refer to
that as we failed our wayforward.
Yeah.
You were building and applyingand trying, right?
And then saying, no, that's notworking well enough.
SPEAKER_03 (14:58):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (14:59):
Let me keep pushing forward until I come up with a
solution.
I hope that would be a reallygood solution at the end of this
idea, right?
And so you discovered that ifyou use silicone and one hole,
you get a really good bond onbut that's not exactly what you
were thinking on day one, wasit?
SPEAKER_03 (15:20):
No, it wasn't.
SPEAKER_04 (15:21):
So you had to apply thinking and fail and still get
up and try again, right?
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (15:27):
We really struggled with like at first we were
gluing the button back onto thesilicone.
Oh, okay.
But not many glues, like superglues stick to silicone.
So we finally found one, but itwouldn't last for that long.
Like it stick, but it keptfalling off.
It would kept falling off.
So then we came up with the ideaof putting another hole in and
(15:48):
just sticking the button backthrough the hole.
So it would stay.
Yeah, like we we just come upwith so many ideas as we go.
SPEAKER_01 (15:54):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (15:55):
Nice work.
How does it feel to be takenseriously now as an inventor by
your teachers and classmates nowthat you've won the big contest?
SPEAKER_02 (16:04):
It's not really different.
Nobody really looked at usdifferently when we got back to
the school.
SPEAKER_04 (16:09):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (16:09):
Everyone was kind of treated us like the same.
SPEAKER_04 (16:11):
That's good.
SPEAKER_01 (16:12):
Yeah.
They thought it was cool though.
SPEAKER_02 (16:15):
Yeah, they they were all congratulating us.
They thought it was cool, butnothing really changed.
SPEAKER_04 (16:20):
You know, what was it like when you went into the
contest?
You know you're in a bigcompetition.
It's gonna be tough.
What was it like presenting itto the judges?
And how do you think thatexperience impacted you?
SPEAKER_02 (16:35):
I think we kind of like none of the judges had any
questions after presentation.
I think our presentation wasgood enough.
Like we kind of covered all thebases.
SPEAKER_01 (16:45):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (16:46):
And I just felt like I was just explaining something
to someone who didn't know whatit was, and that's what it was.
SPEAKER_01 (16:51):
Yeah, like we were definitely nervous, but like
once we got there, just like wewere having a conversation.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (16:57):
So part of the course is storytelling, right?
SPEAKER_01 (16:59):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (17:00):
Right.
And so yeah, storytelling comesacross in your packaging.
Storytelling is also in how youpresent to those adults.
You know, some of those adultsyou were that were in your that
were judges.
I know two of them are CEOs ofcorporations.
Did that make you nervous atall?
SPEAKER_01 (17:20):
Not really.
Not really.
A little bit.
Like I just thought of it as alearning experience.
Yeah.
Like, yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (17:27):
Well, you did a great job.
And I think you must haveprepared a lot.
SPEAKER_01 (17:31):
Yeah, yeah.
We had a lot of time.
So we just like presented to awhole bunch of in people,
students, teachers, parents toget different feedback.
SPEAKER_04 (17:41):
Did you find that you were working on your idea,
not just in class, but were youalso thinking about it at night
or on weekends?
SPEAKER_01 (17:50):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, we would practice at home.
SPEAKER_04 (17:54):
So you pres you practice your presentation at
home, and then what about theinventing side?
SPEAKER_01 (17:58):
Yeah, we just like like if I thought of an idea, I
would just like text you.
Yeah, she'd text me and be like,oh, that's a new idea.
SPEAKER_04 (18:05):
There you go.
SPEAKER_01 (18:05):
Just thought of this.
SPEAKER_04 (18:07):
Yeah.
Yeah, that's good.
That's good.
Because, you know, sometimesthat's how it works.
The idea, uh the idea doesn'tjust come to you because it's 8
30 in the morning and you're inclass.
It might be, I don't know,you're just relaxing and then
all of a sudden the refinementis there, right?
Do you think other schools uhshould offer this course and
(18:30):
why?
SPEAKER_01 (18:31):
Yeah, for sure.
I think they should.
There's like so many skills youcan learn from this.
Like speaking skills isdefinitely very important.
And like most kids struggle withthat, like definitely me before
this, and now it's like likeeasier for sure.
SPEAKER_02 (18:45):
Bringing people together and like social skills.
Like I was lucky enough I got towork with one of my friends.
Yeah.
But I knew like some of myfriends had to work with
somebody like maybe they hadtalked to before.
And then like by the end of theproject, they were friends.
They were friends, yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (19:00):
Isn't that nice?
SPEAKER_02 (19:01):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (19:02):
Yeah.
The team projects in this courseare pretty powerful.
They tend to you you know uniteeven classes.
Yeah.
Yeah, because everybody's kindof on a journey together, right?
So if you could speak directlyto someone in a corporation or
an investment group, what wouldyou say about how this course
(19:23):
changed your future?
SPEAKER_02 (19:25):
It gave me a lot of social skills and invention
skills, I guess.
Yeah, for sure.
Okay.
To really like push throughsomething when it gets hard and
we have a problem.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (19:37):
I see.
Even if you make mistakes, justlike shake it off and keep
going.
Just keep like sharing likeideas.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (19:47):
So you worked very hard on this.
SPEAKER_01 (19:49):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (19:50):
Did you work uh above and beyond your school
hours?
SPEAKER_01 (19:52):
Yeah, yeah.
Like at home, for sure, yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (19:55):
Well, and what about your parents?
Were they like, wait, what areyou doing?
What is what's this about?
Were they involved?
SPEAKER_01 (20:01):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, my dad came up with thename.
SPEAKER_04 (20:04):
Ah, so he helped out, huh?
SPEAKER_01 (20:07):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (20:07):
That's good.
After taking this course, do yousee yourselves entering a STEM
or STEAM field maybe one day?
SPEAKER_01 (20:16):
Yeah, probably.
Yeah.
Like I didn't think I wouldbefore this, but now I'm like,
well, we did this.
Yeah.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (20:22):
Yeah, this field of science and technology,
engineering and math, it can bevery exciting.
And there are a lot of jobs inthis space.
And I know a lot of companiesare looking for STEM graduates.
SPEAKER_03 (20:35):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (20:36):
So I'm glad you like it because it really can there's
a there'll be a lot ofopportunity in the future in
that field.
Because your team won firstplace, your school won a new 3D
printer.
Yes.
And uh, how did it feel to seeyour school win that new
machine?
SPEAKER_02 (20:55):
It felt nice.
Yeah, I knew knowing that likeit would it's gonna help the
kids in years to come.
SPEAKER_01 (21:02):
The the younger kids are going into eighth grade or
going into this class.
SPEAKER_04 (21:07):
Yeah, yeah.
And they got a good machine,didn't they?
SPEAKER_01 (21:09):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (21:10):
Yeah, that was a good one.
SPEAKER_01 (21:11):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (21:12):
Exciting.
You know, that and that is a bigpiece of it, right?
How do we build better tools,right, for the students who are
coming in the future?
Because they're gonna grow upjust like I did and you are now.
You know, so it's all about howdo we how do we put things in
place for people to learn abouthow they make themselves
(21:32):
progress in life.
SPEAKER_03 (21:33):
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (21:35):
Would you take this course again if you had a
chance?
And if so, why?
SPEAKER_01 (21:39):
Yeah, for sure.
It was super fun.
It's like especially getting towork with Samantha.
I learned a lot for sure.
SPEAKER_02 (21:47):
I wanted to know about Olivia that I didn't know
like how she works.
Uh-huh.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (21:53):
That's good.
All right.
And then if you had one word todescribe how this class made you
feel, what would that one wordbe?
SPEAKER_02 (22:01):
It was fun.
I feel like we said it.
Creative.
It was fun for sure.
SPEAKER_04 (22:05):
Okay, fun and creative?
SPEAKER_02 (22:06):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (22:07):
Well, all right.
That's good.
That works.
And then how did you feel whenyou found out you won the
contest?
Excited.
SPEAKER_01 (22:14):
Oh, it was really exciting.
SPEAKER_04 (22:16):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (22:16):
I feel like we were so prepared that we were just
like, this will be fun.
SPEAKER_04 (22:21):
Well, it was fun watching you.
Yeah.
Thank you.
I'm glad I got to participate inthat too.
Now, when did the idea reallyclick for you?
SPEAKER_01 (22:30):
We were just like thinking of like problems that
happen like every day, and we'relike, we play volleyball, like
what happens?
Your shoes come untied.
And we were just looking intolike how your shoes come untied.
Like we did a lot of research inthat.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And we like figured out it comesuntied when you run, like forces
when you run or walk, like therepeated impact of your shoes on
(22:50):
the floor.
So we're like, how do we stopthat?
And we're like, like, imagine,like, because you double knot
your shoelaces, like you tightenthe knot.
SPEAKER_04 (22:58):
Yes.
SPEAKER_01 (22:59):
And somehow they still come untied.
So we were like, how do youtighten the knot?
So we just came up with this.
SPEAKER_04 (23:06):
And then how did you come up with the name?
Because of that, the untie knot?
SPEAKER_01 (23:10):
Yeah, it does not come on tie.
Yeah.
Yeah.
My dad actually gave me theidea.
SPEAKER_04 (23:15):
Ah.
Yeah.
Well, it's a unique name.
You know, it's uh it works.
And I think the packaging reallyworks too.
So you can see them through thewindow.
SPEAKER_01 (23:26):
See what you're getting.
SPEAKER_04 (23:28):
And they're different colors.
SPEAKER_01 (23:29):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (23:30):
Which I think is important.
SPEAKER_01 (23:31):
Spirit, color of your shoe, color of your laces,
anything, yeah.
Match your outfit.
Yeah, to match your outfit forsure.
SPEAKER_04 (23:38):
Before this course, did you ever think that you'd
become an inventor?
SPEAKER_01 (23:42):
No.
No, not at all.
This is like completely new tous.
So it was exciting to like it'sjust a learning experience.
SPEAKER_04 (23:52):
Do you like STEM and Steam?
SPEAKER_01 (23:53):
Yeah.
Yeah.
unknown (23:54):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (23:55):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (23:55):
It's pretty awesome.
So what do you think is next foryour uh idea?
You know, where do you think theuntie knots gonna go?
SPEAKER_01 (24:03):
Hopefully it goes to market.
Yeah.
Like anybody can use it, likeathletes, parents, like so you
don't have to keep tying yourkids' shoes.
Like a very wide variety ofpeople can use it.
SPEAKER_04 (24:15):
Well, I have some good news for you because one of
the judges really liked yourproduct a lot.
He runs a company down in Texas.
And so there's been aconversation about wanting to
acquire it and pay you girlssome royalties along the way and
take it to market.
Would you be in agreement withthat?
(24:36):
Would you?
Of course.
Well, you're learning, you know,today it's like, you know, it's
we'll have to solidify that.
But Sam, that's gonna be yourpaperwork.
That's your agreement, so thatthey can start to mass produce
these.
And so you'll have to take alook at that.
You'll learn another thing aboutlife and business, and but
(25:00):
that's the agreement.
How exciting is that?
SPEAKER_01 (25:03):
So exciting.
That's exciting.
SPEAKER_04 (25:05):
Yeah.
So we'll get that off to yourparents and you guys can figure
out, you know, get that signedup and they're gonna go to
market.
SPEAKER_01 (25:13):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Isn't that exciting?
I'm excited for you.
SPEAKER_04 (25:16):
So, you know, we'll get through that process.
So if you were gonna give adviceto someone in the future who was
gonna take the course, whatwould you give what advice would
you give them?
SPEAKER_01 (25:27):
Just like be creative, like just share a lot
of ideas.
Like we didn't had no clue whatwe were gonna make when we
started this.
Like we were kind of scared.
Like we knew what events landwas like in seventh grade, or
like I have no clue what I'mgonna make.
But it all worked out.
SPEAKER_02 (25:42):
So in seventh grade, our English teacher made us like
write an essay on what we thinkour product would be when we do
get to eighth grade.
It was probably somethingcompletely different than this.
I probably was not somethingstupid that wouldn't help me at
the time.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (25:57):
Well, congratulations on your you
know, your accomplishments.
SPEAKER_02 (26:00):
Thank you.
Thank you.
SPEAKER_04 (26:01):
I'm excited to see where this all goes in the
future and to see where yourcareers go in the future.
Yeah.
Well, everybody, that's anotheredition of Tomorrow's World
Today.
Thanks for tuning in.
SPEAKER_00 (26:13):
Thank you for listening to this episode of
Tomorrow's World Today podcast.
Join us next time as we continueto explore the worlds of
inspiration, creation,innovation, and production.
Discover more at Tomorrow'sworldToday.com, connect with us on
social media at TWT Explore, andfind us wherever podcasts are
available.
Welcome to the Tomorrow's World Today podcast.
We sit down with experts,world-changing innovators,
creators, and makers to explorehow they're taking action to
make tomorrow's world a betterplace for technology, science,
innovation, sustainability, thearts, and more.
SPEAKER_04 (00:18):
Hello, everybody, and welcome to another edition
of Tomorrow's World Today.
And today I have two youngup-and-comers.
We have Sam Priest and OliviaAdams.
Welcome to the show.
SPEAKER_02 (00:33):
Thanks for having us.
SPEAKER_04 (00:35):
Well, they just won the big invention contest, and
they're gonna kind of tell us alittle bit about how this all
happened.
So can you tell us a little bitabout your school and its
participation in the InventionLand course?
SPEAKER_01 (00:51):
Yeah, we have two teachers, a tech ed teacher and
a computer teacher, and they'regreat.
SPEAKER_04 (00:57):
Oh, that's a big part of it, isn't it?
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
Teachers that are great make iteasy.
SPEAKER_03 (01:02):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (01:02):
So can you tell us a little bit about yourselves?
I mean, let's let's learn alittle bit about you first, Sam.
What's your background?
SPEAKER_02 (01:10):
I play volleyball, and that's how like we kind of
came up with the idea, is fromsports and stuff.
SPEAKER_01 (01:16):
All right.
Yeah, we both play volleyballfor our school.
She plays on a club team.
SPEAKER_04 (01:22):
I see.
So, well, since you've juststarted the process of looking
at the problem, right, in thesport that you were playing, why
don't we why don't we focus alittle bit on that?
In your course, did you did youlearn about uh how to use
observational skills and how toidentify problems to come up
with some sort of an idea?
SPEAKER_01 (01:43):
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, we actually got our ideabecause one of our teammates,
her shoe came untied during amatch, and it's like super
awkward.
Like you're like rushing to tieyour shoe and you don't actually
like get your shoe like fullytied, and it just keeps coming
inside.
SPEAKER_04 (01:57):
And that happened in the middle of a game?
Yeah.
Oh, well, that's that's prettydisruptive.
unknown (02:01):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (02:02):
Pretty embarrassing.
I mean, do they stop the game ordo they let it keep going on?
SPEAKER_01 (02:07):
They just stop the game.
SPEAKER_04 (02:08):
Oh, so you have to tie your shoe in front of the
entire audience?
Oh, well, that is a big problem.
Uh-huh.
Yeah, that's that that's I don'tknow if I'd like to do that
either.
Yeah.
So let's so this idea is allabout stopping that problem from
happening, right?
Can you talk a little bit aboutuh your idea?
SPEAKER_01 (02:26):
Yeah, it literally just wraps around the knot of
your shoelace.
Like obviously, if you like pullit, it'll come on side, but like
your shoes come on side by likeforces when you like run or
walk.
So this like keeps your knottight so it doesn't come on
side.
SPEAKER_04 (02:41):
Very nice.
And I like its simplicity.
SPEAKER_01 (02:44):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (02:44):
That's one of the things that you know I noted
earlier.
You know, sometimes it'ssometimes it can be pretty
difficult making something,let's say complex, but figuring
out a way to make it simple isis tough sometimes.
So can you go through theprocess with me a little?
I mean, we now know how youdiscovered the problem, but you
started to work on a solution.
(03:06):
So was it in the mind, or didyou see other products that you
thought held things welltogether?
Or how did you come up with thisspecific with this specific
design?
Do you recall?
SPEAKER_01 (03:20):
Yeah, there was the the clip.
Yeah, the we saw a clip, but itwas like plastic in it.
There was like a bunch ofreviews how it like came
unclipped.
Okay.
So and it wasn't stretchy, likeyou know, you could have like
different size knots, likethicker shoelaces.
SPEAKER_04 (03:35):
I see.
SPEAKER_01 (03:35):
So we wanted to have it stretchy, so any size knot.
SPEAKER_04 (03:40):
Nice.
So it's a universal design, andit's pretty simple to make,
right?
SPEAKER_01 (03:44):
Yeah, really simple.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (03:45):
I mean, you made quite a few prototypes.
Yeah.
I mean you blew the you blew thejudges away, I heard.
So you know, then you did a goodjob in there.
Yeah.
So did you start the course withthe contest in mind?
SPEAKER_01 (04:01):
No, we had no clue what we were gonna make.
So we had to share our ideas,like okay.
SPEAKER_04 (04:08):
So you didn't did you didn't know that there was
gonna be a contest at the end ofthis course, or did you think
there was gonna be one?
SPEAKER_02 (04:14):
We knew, like he told us.
SPEAKER_01 (04:16):
Ah yeah, we were just like that's so far away,
like we have so much time.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (04:21):
It's kind of scary because you don't know if you're
gonna be able to come up with anidea, huh?
SPEAKER_01 (04:25):
Yeah, really.
We had no clue what we weregonna make.
Yeah.
But here we are.
SPEAKER_04 (04:31):
I think when you're in the beginning parts of this
course and they're you knowteaching you how to identify
problems, right?
You because you already haveyour own observational skills.
That's just inside all of us.
But it's how do we pull thatout, right?
SPEAKER_01 (04:47):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (04:47):
And then apply it in a way that you could help
others.
SPEAKER_01 (04:50):
Yeah.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (04:51):
Yeah.
What are some of the cool thingsyou learned in the course?
And how is this different frommaybe other courses you've taken
in the school?
SPEAKER_02 (05:00):
We had to do a lot of thinking, more thinking than
like math or reading.
The hardest part was coming upwith an idea of to make it out
of.
Like the silicone idea.
SPEAKER_04 (05:15):
So you had to apply thinking, your own creative
thinking, not just a process ofdo this math problem and then
you generate this solution,right?
So we refer to that as appliedthinking.
Yeah, we had a lot of freedom,like yeah, like freedom like
that can be fun.
It could be a little scary ifyou don't really know where
(05:37):
you're going.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So you said one of the otherchallenges was figuring out the
right material, right?
So how do you how did youexplore material science?
SPEAKER_02 (05:47):
Well, we just went, we wanted it to be stretchy.
Like when we first started, weknew we wanted it to be
stretchy.
So the first thing that came toour mind that was like durable
and stretchy was silicon.
SPEAKER_04 (05:56):
Silicon, okay, yeah.
Yeah.
Did you have silicon like in theSometimes you have it with
sports, you know, they have thatstretchy tie-off.
Is that where you found yoursilicon?
SPEAKER_01 (06:07):
We just looked up like silicone sheets on Amazon.
SPEAKER_04 (06:10):
Okay.
Oh, so you you knew theprinciples of the material and
then went and found your ownresource, right?
Yeah.
Okay, great stuff.
Sometimes what we'll do is we'llfind it what in what we call our
magic bins, and then we juststart cutting and hacking.
Before you know it, we actuallyhave a raw material.
So it's kind of fun to do itthat way, too.
(06:31):
Do you think this course helpedyou think more about your future
or you know what you might wantto do one day?
SPEAKER_01 (06:38):
Yeah, I've like I've never tried to invent something,
so this is so different, and itwas super fun.
SPEAKER_04 (06:44):
That's great.
That's great to hear.
Yeah.
All right.
Well, that it sounds like wehave something in common.
Because I was when I was yourwhen I was your age, we were
inventing all sorts of stuff.
I had I had some wonderfulpeople in my life when I was
younger.
So what was it like for the twoof you working as a team?
SPEAKER_01 (07:01):
It was it was fun because we've been friends for a
while.
So it was nice.
Like I wouldn't want to workwith anybody else.
Any funny moments you can sharewith us?
SPEAKER_02 (07:11):
Not off the top of my head.
SPEAKER_01 (07:13):
It was just fun to like work with her.
Like it like made me get throughthe time like quicker.
We were talking.
Like we would cut these, likewe'd have the silicone sheets
and cut them, and we would justtalk the whole time and it would
go by so fast.
SPEAKER_02 (07:26):
Like we would be working on like creating
prototype, and it was just likemuscle memory at that point
because we were just constantlyusing more and more.
It's like we just talk aboutsomething that happened in the
class yesterday or before oranything, really.
SPEAKER_04 (07:38):
Isn't it amazing?
And when you're inventing stuff,it's like you're in a time warp.
It's like you blink your eyesand you're like, wait a minute,
four hours just disappeared.
How'd that happen?
Yeah, we have that happen allthe time.
It's it's kind of funny, but itit really is like a time warp.
Do you think other schools mightbenefit their kids?
Do you think this would besomething good for all schools
(07:59):
to have?
SPEAKER_01 (08:00):
Yes, for sure.
It's like super creative, likeit's just super fun to do.
SPEAKER_02 (08:06):
I feel like it might help kids, like say they're like
us and we're you get on thepodcast and everything, and
they'll put their name out therefor maybe something in the
future, like if they do pickwant to become a STEM like
career, then it has their nameout there from when they were
younger.
SPEAKER_04 (08:22):
Right.
Oh, and it that definitely willhappen here.
And you're applying things,right?
So when you cut these, I noticedthey're all the same size.
So you had to figure out atemplate or you were using math
somewhere along the way, right?
So that's applied math.
You have packaging here that haslanguage all over it, right?
So you're applying English.
SPEAKER_03 (08:42):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (08:43):
You have different fonts and sizes of your text, so
that's part of your art class.
I mean, you apply you applied alot of the different classes
that you that you are in anyway,right?
But you just have the freedom toplay now.
SPEAKER_03 (08:58):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (08:58):
That's fun.
So what's your thought on theimportance of learning STEM?
SPEAKER_02 (09:05):
I think that it'll help kids like with their
future.
Like before this product, Idon't think I could have sat
down with somebody and like, Idon't know, like worked and
constantly worked and worked andworked just to get something
done.
SPEAKER_04 (09:19):
Yeah, so that collaboration, working with one
another.
SPEAKER_02 (09:23):
Working with another person.
Like when you get older and youget a job, you're gonna have
co-workers, you're gonna have towork with other people in an
office.
SPEAKER_04 (09:29):
That is a real skill.
You that really empowers yourteam to be able to brainstorm
better, problem solve better,right?
And and learning how to be agood team member in this
environment of STEM or work isprobably pretty similar to what
you were doing with volleyball,right?
(09:49):
So you you probably have apretty good connection with your
other volleyball teammates,right?
SPEAKER_01 (09:54):
So Yeah, we actually made them, she made her team
wear these.
SPEAKER_02 (09:57):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (09:58):
Oh really?
SPEAKER_02 (09:58):
Yeah, toilet my two-day toilet in West Virginia
and the whole team wore them.
SPEAKER_04 (10:02):
And how'd that go?
SPEAKER_02 (10:03):
It worked, they worked, we stayed tied.
I stayed tied.
SPEAKER_04 (10:06):
Did you win?
SPEAKER_02 (10:07):
No, we got second.
We got second in the market.
SPEAKER_04 (10:12):
Darn.
All right.
So how would you like motivateor encourage other students to
do inventing, let's say?
How would if you were if you hadthe opportunity to reach out to
other students around thecountry, what what do you think
might get them engaged?
SPEAKER_02 (10:30):
It's uh it's hard to sit down at first with somebody
and just brainstorm without likeI I always was kept waiting for
like the hands-on part.
It's hard to just sit down andthink about it and draw it out,
but I just kept looking at likethe end result, like the bigger
picture.
Yeah.
And like where we'd end up if wewon, like if we did.
SPEAKER_04 (10:48):
Okay, so you worked backwards from the success.
So you were looking at I want toachieve this objective, and you
worked backwards to f to it.
SPEAKER_03 (10:58):
Yeah.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (10:59):
That's that's a really good way to do it.
And then you break it up intopieces, right?
And chase your goals.
Yeah, very nice.
So if you were to say to kidsout there why they should
participate, why?
Why should they do this?
SPEAKER_01 (11:12):
Um, super fun.
Like we didn't think we would behere and we're here.
Like you never know what canhappen.
SPEAKER_02 (11:18):
It really it also grew me and Olivia together for
sure.
SPEAKER_04 (11:22):
You know, why do you think STEM and STEAM education
is like so important in ourschools today?
SPEAKER_02 (11:29):
It can like help you to build a bigger career once
you get out of high school andonce you get older.
SPEAKER_04 (11:35):
Yeah.
For me, I think it also helps mewith just life in general.
You have a better understandingof like how the world works, you
know, science, technology,engineering, math, and then you
throw in art, it's prettyexciting.
SPEAKER_01 (11:48):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (11:49):
Yeah.
Do you need to be a STEM orSTEAM expert to take this
course?
SPEAKER_01 (11:53):
No, we had no idea what this was, but it was a
learning experience for sure.
SPEAKER_02 (11:59):
We had no idea what we were getting to when we
started.
SPEAKER_04 (12:02):
So you learned how to actually develop an idea,
didn't you?
SPEAKER_01 (12:05):
Uh-huh.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (12:06):
Yeah.
Was that exciting?
SPEAKER_01 (12:08):
Yeah, it was much fun.
SPEAKER_04 (12:10):
Yeah.
I think it is too.
Can you talk about how yourteacher or teachers supported
you through the process?
SPEAKER_02 (12:18):
It was nice having two teachers with two different
classes.
Like I feel like some of thekids thought they were limited
only to the teacher that theywere assigned to.
But we we went and presented toour actual teacher and then the
other teacher to get feedbackfrom both of them.
Yeah.
Because maybe one thoughtsomething and the other thought
(12:39):
something completely different.
Yeah.
Yes.
And it gave us like twodifferent perspectives on the
product.
SPEAKER_04 (12:44):
Nice.
And those two teachers that thattaught you the course, did they
uh did they specialize in aspecific area or yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (12:53):
One is tech ed and then one is computer.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (12:57):
Okay.
So your te so your school wentthrough uh what's called
professional development, right?
And that that they were learningthe invention land education
course.
And then so now they're applyingit as well in a school with you.
SPEAKER_03 (13:09):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (13:09):
Right.
Yeah.
Okay.
And then how did your teacherinspire you to uh push further?
And what challenges did you facealong the way?
SPEAKER_02 (13:19):
Both of them really helped us.
Like if we were like strugglingwith a problem, they tried to
help us like see the biggeridea, the bigger picture, and
give us like a solution oranother idea.
SPEAKER_03 (13:30):
Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_01 (13:31):
Yeah, for sure.
They gave us so like so manyideas, and if it didn't work, we
just moved on and tried tofigure something else out.
SPEAKER_04 (13:38):
Gotcha.
And so in this situation, youlearned how to look at a problem
out there in the world, didn'tyou?
And you wanted to make somethingbetter for people.
SPEAKER_03 (13:50):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (13:50):
Right?
And you you discovered this on afield of sports, didn't you?
Yeah.
Can you talk a little bit aboutyou know how you utilized what
you were learning in the course?
Like how to utilize yourobservational abilities,
ideation, coming up with ideas,let's say maybe making a model.
(14:12):
How did all of that shape yourprogress on this project?
SPEAKER_02 (14:18):
We started with like a really long piece of silicone
with many holes in it.
And when we tried it out, likeon the actual tennis shoe, we
realized that it wasn't veryideal.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (14:28):
I see.
SPEAKER_02 (14:28):
And then we kept getting smaller, like we got to
this size but with two holes init.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (14:34):
And we realized it was just the silicone was
stretchy, so we really justneeded one hole.
Yeah.
And that was perfect.
SPEAKER_04 (14:41):
I see.
So the untie knot, which is whatwe're talking about today, what
you're saying is now you youbasically fail what we refer to
that as we failed our wayforward.
Yeah.
You were building and applyingand trying, right?
And then saying, no, that's notworking well enough.
SPEAKER_03 (14:58):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (14:59):
Let me keep pushing forward until I come up with a
solution.
I hope that would be a reallygood solution at the end of this
idea, right?
And so you discovered that ifyou use silicone and one hole,
you get a really good bond onbut that's not exactly what you
were thinking on day one, wasit?
SPEAKER_03 (15:20):
No, it wasn't.
SPEAKER_04 (15:21):
So you had to apply thinking and fail and still get
up and try again, right?
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (15:27):
We really struggled with like at first we were
gluing the button back onto thesilicone.
Oh, okay.
But not many glues, like superglues stick to silicone.
So we finally found one, but itwouldn't last for that long.
Like it stick, but it keptfalling off.
It would kept falling off.
So then we came up with the ideaof putting another hole in and
(15:48):
just sticking the button backthrough the hole.
So it would stay.
Yeah, like we we just come upwith so many ideas as we go.
SPEAKER_01 (15:54):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (15:55):
Nice work.
How does it feel to be takenseriously now as an inventor by
your teachers and classmates nowthat you've won the big contest?
SPEAKER_02 (16:04):
It's not really different.
Nobody really looked at usdifferently when we got back to
the school.
SPEAKER_04 (16:09):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (16:09):
Everyone was kind of treated us like the same.
SPEAKER_04 (16:11):
That's good.
SPEAKER_01 (16:12):
Yeah.
They thought it was cool though.
SPEAKER_02 (16:15):
Yeah, they they were all congratulating us.
They thought it was cool, butnothing really changed.
SPEAKER_04 (16:20):
You know, what was it like when you went into the
contest?
You know you're in a bigcompetition.
It's gonna be tough.
What was it like presenting itto the judges?
And how do you think thatexperience impacted you?
SPEAKER_02 (16:35):
I think we kind of like none of the judges had any
questions after presentation.
I think our presentation wasgood enough.
Like we kind of covered all thebases.
SPEAKER_01 (16:45):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (16:46):
And I just felt like I was just explaining something
to someone who didn't know whatit was, and that's what it was.
SPEAKER_01 (16:51):
Yeah, like we were definitely nervous, but like
once we got there, just like wewere having a conversation.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (16:57):
So part of the course is storytelling, right?
SPEAKER_01 (16:59):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (17:00):
Right.
And so yeah, storytelling comesacross in your packaging.
Storytelling is also in how youpresent to those adults.
You know, some of those adultsyou were that were in your that
were judges.
I know two of them are CEOs ofcorporations.
Did that make you nervous atall?
SPEAKER_01 (17:20):
Not really.
Not really.
A little bit.
Like I just thought of it as alearning experience.
Yeah.
Like, yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (17:27):
Well, you did a great job.
And I think you must haveprepared a lot.
SPEAKER_01 (17:31):
Yeah, yeah.
We had a lot of time.
So we just like presented to awhole bunch of in people,
students, teachers, parents toget different feedback.
SPEAKER_04 (17:41):
Did you find that you were working on your idea,
not just in class, but were youalso thinking about it at night
or on weekends?
SPEAKER_01 (17:50):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, we would practice at home.
SPEAKER_04 (17:54):
So you pres you practice your presentation at
home, and then what about theinventing side?
SPEAKER_01 (17:58):
Yeah, we just like like if I thought of an idea, I
would just like text you.
Yeah, she'd text me and be like,oh, that's a new idea.
SPEAKER_04 (18:05):
There you go.
SPEAKER_01 (18:05):
Just thought of this.
SPEAKER_04 (18:07):
Yeah.
Yeah, that's good.
That's good.
Because, you know, sometimesthat's how it works.
The idea, uh the idea doesn'tjust come to you because it's 8
30 in the morning and you're inclass.
It might be, I don't know,you're just relaxing and then
all of a sudden the refinementis there, right?
Do you think other schools uhshould offer this course and
(18:30):
why?
SPEAKER_01 (18:31):
Yeah, for sure.
I think they should.
There's like so many skills youcan learn from this.
Like speaking skills isdefinitely very important.
And like most kids struggle withthat, like definitely me before
this, and now it's like likeeasier for sure.
SPEAKER_02 (18:45):
Bringing people together and like social skills.
Like I was lucky enough I got towork with one of my friends.
Yeah.
But I knew like some of myfriends had to work with
somebody like maybe they hadtalked to before.
And then like by the end of theproject, they were friends.
They were friends, yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (19:00):
Isn't that nice?
SPEAKER_02 (19:01):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (19:02):
Yeah.
The team projects in this courseare pretty powerful.
They tend to you you know uniteeven classes.
Yeah.
Yeah, because everybody's kindof on a journey together, right?
So if you could speak directlyto someone in a corporation or
an investment group, what wouldyou say about how this course
(19:23):
changed your future?
SPEAKER_02 (19:25):
It gave me a lot of social skills and invention
skills, I guess.
Yeah, for sure.
Okay.
To really like push throughsomething when it gets hard and
we have a problem.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (19:37):
I see.
Even if you make mistakes, justlike shake it off and keep
going.
Just keep like sharing likeideas.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (19:47):
So you worked very hard on this.
SPEAKER_01 (19:49):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (19:50):
Did you work uh above and beyond your school
hours?
SPEAKER_01 (19:52):
Yeah, yeah.
Like at home, for sure, yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (19:55):
Well, and what about your parents?
Were they like, wait, what areyou doing?
What is what's this about?
Were they involved?
SPEAKER_01 (20:01):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, my dad came up with thename.
SPEAKER_04 (20:04):
Ah, so he helped out, huh?
SPEAKER_01 (20:07):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (20:07):
That's good.
After taking this course, do yousee yourselves entering a STEM
or STEAM field maybe one day?
SPEAKER_01 (20:16):
Yeah, probably.
Yeah.
Like I didn't think I wouldbefore this, but now I'm like,
well, we did this.
Yeah.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (20:22):
Yeah, this field of science and technology,
engineering and math, it can bevery exciting.
And there are a lot of jobs inthis space.
And I know a lot of companiesare looking for STEM graduates.
SPEAKER_03 (20:35):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (20:36):
So I'm glad you like it because it really can there's
a there'll be a lot ofopportunity in the future in
that field.
Because your team won firstplace, your school won a new 3D
printer.
Yes.
And uh, how did it feel to seeyour school win that new
machine?
SPEAKER_02 (20:55):
It felt nice.
Yeah, I knew knowing that likeit would it's gonna help the
kids in years to come.
SPEAKER_01 (21:02):
The the younger kids are going into eighth grade or
going into this class.
SPEAKER_04 (21:07):
Yeah, yeah.
And they got a good machine,didn't they?
SPEAKER_01 (21:09):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (21:10):
Yeah, that was a good one.
SPEAKER_01 (21:11):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (21:12):
Exciting.
You know, that and that is a bigpiece of it, right?
How do we build better tools,right, for the students who are
coming in the future?
Because they're gonna grow upjust like I did and you are now.
You know, so it's all about howdo we how do we put things in
place for people to learn abouthow they make themselves
(21:32):
progress in life.
SPEAKER_03 (21:33):
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (21:35):
Would you take this course again if you had a
chance?
And if so, why?
SPEAKER_01 (21:39):
Yeah, for sure.
It was super fun.
It's like especially getting towork with Samantha.
I learned a lot for sure.
SPEAKER_02 (21:47):
I wanted to know about Olivia that I didn't know
like how she works.
Uh-huh.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (21:53):
That's good.
All right.
And then if you had one word todescribe how this class made you
feel, what would that one wordbe?
SPEAKER_02 (22:01):
It was fun.
I feel like we said it.
Creative.
It was fun for sure.
SPEAKER_04 (22:05):
Okay, fun and creative?
SPEAKER_02 (22:06):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (22:07):
Well, all right.
That's good.
That works.
And then how did you feel whenyou found out you won the
contest?
Excited.
SPEAKER_01 (22:14):
Oh, it was really exciting.
SPEAKER_04 (22:16):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (22:16):
I feel like we were so prepared that we were just
like, this will be fun.
SPEAKER_04 (22:21):
Well, it was fun watching you.
Yeah.
Thank you.
I'm glad I got to participate inthat too.
Now, when did the idea reallyclick for you?
SPEAKER_01 (22:30):
We were just like thinking of like problems that
happen like every day, and we'relike, we play volleyball, like
what happens?
Your shoes come untied.
And we were just looking intolike how your shoes come untied.
Like we did a lot of research inthat.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And we like figured out it comesuntied when you run, like forces
when you run or walk, like therepeated impact of your shoes on
(22:50):
the floor.
So we're like, how do we stopthat?
And we're like, like, imagine,like, because you double knot
your shoelaces, like you tightenthe knot.
SPEAKER_04 (22:58):
Yes.
SPEAKER_01 (22:59):
And somehow they still come untied.
So we were like, how do youtighten the knot?
So we just came up with this.
SPEAKER_04 (23:06):
And then how did you come up with the name?
Because of that, the untie knot?
SPEAKER_01 (23:10):
Yeah, it does not come on tie.
Yeah.
Yeah.
My dad actually gave me theidea.
SPEAKER_04 (23:15):
Ah.
Yeah.
Well, it's a unique name.
You know, it's uh it works.
And I think the packaging reallyworks too.
So you can see them through thewindow.
SPEAKER_01 (23:26):
See what you're getting.
SPEAKER_04 (23:28):
And they're different colors.
SPEAKER_01 (23:29):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (23:30):
Which I think is important.
SPEAKER_01 (23:31):
Spirit, color of your shoe, color of your laces,
anything, yeah.
Match your outfit.
Yeah, to match your outfit forsure.
SPEAKER_04 (23:38):
Before this course, did you ever think that you'd
become an inventor?
SPEAKER_01 (23:42):
No.
No, not at all.
This is like completely new tous.
So it was exciting to like it'sjust a learning experience.
SPEAKER_04 (23:52):
Do you like STEM and Steam?
SPEAKER_01 (23:53):
Yeah.
Yeah.
unknown (23:54):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (23:55):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (23:55):
It's pretty awesome.
So what do you think is next foryour uh idea?
You know, where do you think theuntie knots gonna go?
SPEAKER_01 (24:03):
Hopefully it goes to market.
Yeah.
Like anybody can use it, likeathletes, parents, like so you
don't have to keep tying yourkids' shoes.
Like a very wide variety ofpeople can use it.
SPEAKER_04 (24:15):
Well, I have some good news for you because one of
the judges really liked yourproduct a lot.
He runs a company down in Texas.
And so there's been aconversation about wanting to
acquire it and pay you girlssome royalties along the way and
take it to market.
Would you be in agreement withthat?
(24:36):
Would you?
Of course.
Well, you're learning, you know,today it's like, you know, it's
we'll have to solidify that.
But Sam, that's gonna be yourpaperwork.
That's your agreement, so thatthey can start to mass produce
these.
And so you'll have to take alook at that.
You'll learn another thing aboutlife and business, and but
(25:00):
that's the agreement.
How exciting is that?
SPEAKER_01 (25:03):
So exciting.
That's exciting.
SPEAKER_04 (25:05):
Yeah.
So we'll get that off to yourparents and you guys can figure
out, you know, get that signedup and they're gonna go to
market.
SPEAKER_01 (25:13):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Isn't that exciting?
I'm excited for you.
SPEAKER_04 (25:16):
So, you know, we'll get through that process.
So if you were gonna give adviceto someone in the future who was
gonna take the course, whatwould you give what advice would
you give them?
SPEAKER_01 (25:27):
Just like be creative, like just share a lot
of ideas.
Like we didn't had no clue whatwe were gonna make when we
started this.
Like we were kind of scared.
Like we knew what events landwas like in seventh grade, or
like I have no clue what I'mgonna make.
But it all worked out.
SPEAKER_02 (25:42):
So in seventh grade, our English teacher made us like
write an essay on what we thinkour product would be when we do
get to eighth grade.
It was probably somethingcompletely different than this.
I probably was not somethingstupid that wouldn't help me at
the time.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (25:57):
Well, congratulations on your you
know, your accomplishments.
SPEAKER_02 (26:00):
Thank you.
Thank you.
SPEAKER_04 (26:01):
I'm excited to see where this all goes in the
future and to see where yourcareers go in the future.
Yeah.
Well, everybody, that's anotheredition of Tomorrow's World
Today.
Thanks for tuning in.
SPEAKER_00 (26:13):
Thank you for listening to this episode of
Tomorrow's World Today podcast.
Join us next time as we continueto explore the worlds of
inspiration, creation,innovation, and production.
Discover more at Tomorrow'sworldToday.com, connect with us on
social media at TWT Explore, andfind us wherever podcasts are
available.
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