Wilson, North Carolina
Age 10 at the time of innovation.
Achievement: Designed a car seat to protect babies.
Lydia likes to use her imagination to create things that help people. When she heard news stories about babies who died after being left in hot cars, she decided to see what she could do.
Putting her problem-solving skills to work, Lydia developed the Beat the Heat Car Seat. The seat has a pressure pad that activates a temperature monitor when a baby is in it. If the temperature in the vehicle becomes unsafe, the seat notifies adults responsible for the baby by text and, if they didn’t respond, texts emergency authorities with the vehicle’s location. Lydia made a rough prototype, then enlisted the help of her brother and sister to develop a final prototype.
Creating the car seat was hard to figure out, and Lydia found the biggest challenge was to not give up. She tested her seat more than 100 times using her cat as the “baby.” After three months of problem-solving, the Beat the Heat Car Seat was a success!
Visit Lydia’s Non-Profit Website:
Lydia’s Inventions can be found here:
Lydia was named one of the 16 Under 16 by
the 74’s 2022 Class of STEM Achievers:
Watch Lydia’s “Women in STEM” keynote address: