KOTY Nominee: Meet Lino

Who will become Kid of the Year for 2021? The answer will be revealed on February 9 during a TV special on Nickelodeon. In the weeks leading up to the show, we’ve been introducing the top five nominees. Read on!

Lino Marrero is a 14-year-old from Frisco, Texas. One day at soccer practice, Lino found that his smartphone was dead. He remembered a lesson in school on kinetic energy. That’s the energy produced by an object in motion. It’s the way a kick causes a soccer ball to move. Lino thought, “What if I could use the energy I wasted on the field to charge my phone?”

SPORTS FAN It’s important to Lino to stay active. Sports have inspired some of his best ideas.

That eureka × eureka MORSA IMAGES/GETTY IMAGES indicating a moment of insight or discovery (adjective) Over the course of history, many mathematicians and scientists have had eureka moments. moment led Lino to invent the Kinetic Kickz 2.0. It’s like a rechargeable battery that fits into a shoe. It collects energy from walking. This energy can then be used to power portable devices.

Lino says this technology could be more efficient and less expensive than other sources of renewable × renewable IMAGEVIXEN/GETTY IMAGES able to be replaced naturally (adjective) Windmills create electricity using wind, which is a renewable resource. energy. He told Spectrum News 1, in Texas: “The Kinetic Kickz 2.0 taps into human kinetic energy as a new, clean alternative-energy source.”

A device like this could help people around the world who don’t have access to electricity. “Being able to even light up a little lightbulb on their ceiling would make a big difference,” Lino says.

In 2019, Lino won awards for his invention at the Invention Convention U.S. Nationals. In 2021, he won first place for grades 6 to 8 at the Invention Convention Globals. Those were held virtually.

WORLD CHAMP Lino’s charger won a top prize at the Invention Convention Globals 2021.

A Natural Inventor

Lino made his first invention when he was in fourth grade. He played the cello. And he was having trouble. “A lot of people quit their stringed instruments because of calluses and blisters that make it painful to play,” he says. So Lino invented the String Ring. It’s an adjustable band that protects the fingers. He’s developing one for guitar players, too.

BIG WIN Lino has also won awards for sports. This medal is for a tennis tournament.

“It’s usually been about helping other people, for me,” Lino says. “Kids are better inventors than grown-ups, at times. I just want to inspire more people to want to become inventors and help change the world.”