Sealed Air Corp. (Elmwood Park, N.J.), the creator of Bubble Wrap brand cushioning, has named 15 year-old Grayson Rosenberger, of Nashville, Tennessee, grand prize winner of the Bubble Wrap Competition for Young Inventors. His winning invention used Bubble Wrap cushioning to create a low-cost cosmetic covering for prosthetic limbs and earned him a $10,000 savings bond.
Rosenberger was one of nearly 800 students who entered the nationwide contest challenging students in grades five through eight to come up with creative inventions that incorporate Bubble Wrap brand cushioning. The announcement coincided with the celebration of the 7th Annual Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day, a holiday honoring the revolutionary packaging material invented more than 45 years ago and recognized around the world.
The inspiration for Rosenberger’s invention, titled “Bubble Wrap Cosmetic Covering Shell for Artificial Legs in Developing Countries,” was his mother, a double-leg amputee, and his family’s charitable work with prosthetic patients in Africa.
Using a heat gun to mold the cushioning material around the steel rod of a prosthetic limb to give it muscle-like tone and shape, Rosenberger was able to quickly turn a basic artificial leg into a more life-like limb so that amputees would feel more confident and less self-conscious. In a little more than an hour, and for a fraction of the cost, his entry demonstrated how he could create a lightweight prosthetic leg covering that rivaled those costing more than $1,000.
In addition to the savings bond, Rosenberger, along with the competition’s other two finalists, won a trip to New York City to celebrate Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day. The second and third place winners received $5,000 and $3,000 savings bonds.
Source: Sealed Air Corp.
