Ben Lukoszek- a revolutionary skateboard

Ben was just 14 years old when he thought "There’s got to be a better way!". He was studying his skateboard, and wondering why, six months after buying it, he still wasn’t able to do any gnarly tricks properly.

His Dad has been egging him on, mentoring him and providing a lot of the technical skills, and Ben – who’s now 17– is working towards getting a product onto the market someday.

He figured his problems were caused by the stiffness and location of the rubber/neoprene axle mountings. They didn’t allow the deck to tilt comfortably, and were too close to the deck to allow tight cornering.

With the help of his Dad (a builder who’s pretty handy mechanically), he started cutting up his skateboard and others and playing with different wheels, springs, axles and mountings. After several failed attempts, he came up with the idea of mounting the axles through roller bearing races rather than neoprene blocks.

Ben – the chief test pilot – improved his style and control immediately.

He can now turn the skateboard in its own length, whereas before it had a 3m minimum turning diameter, and he can comfortably tilt the deck to up to 45 degrees for slalom turns.

He says he’s the main ‘ideas’ man in the team, but his Dad provides the years of technical experience to help make them work. "We’ve burnt lots of midnight oil brainstorming and working through different designs, but it’s great - I love it, and I’m learning heaps."

But is their design really any good, and will it sell? Ben has confidentially consulted 3 skateboard retailers and two manufacturers. He says the responses have all been very positive, and he believes they were genuinely interested and not just giving him false encouragement because he’s a kid.

Jarrod Richards- ball retriever

Jarrod is only 16 but already a budding inventor. He has designed a clever device that retrieves different types of balls from the guttering of buildings.

When this invention goes to market you won’t have to find a ladder or do any climbing at all to get your ball from a roof after you accidentally kick or throw it up there.

Jarrod has thought carefully about who might like to buy his invention. He sees that the current climate of high insurances costs for accidents will make his idea popular with schools and sporting clubs as the safe option for ball retrieval. He has even had preliminary discussions with a patent attorney to protect his idea.

Jarrod has also been testing his invention at school and at home and has found it is working well. He has now applied to join the Triton Foundation’s managed program to get help to bring his idea to the market.

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LATEST NEWS

Young inventors from more than 130 schools around Victoria are thinking up crazy ideas to help solve problems in their home and environment.

Simply by asking their parents, grandparents and friends what new invention would make their lives easier, young inventors are coming up with some great solutions.

Toothpaste scum from the electric toothbrush, stainless steal appliances that never look the same, back breaking cupboards that just don’t store things properly, too many odd socks from the one wash, books with yellowing pages… There are many problems within the home that are just waiting for a young inventor to solve with a great idea. Simply by asking lots of people you may just come up with an invention that becomes an everyday household item.