Patent pending for young inventor

BEN WATSON/Suburbans

GOOD IDEA: Nine-year-old Ryan Nicholls has made national headlines with his waste disposal invention.

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A nine-year-old’s invention could be cropping up in gardens throughout the country after he became the nation’s youngest patent applicant.

Ryan Nicholls of Glenfield has been enjoying national recognition after his Waste-Away invention won a children’s TV competition Let’s Get Inventin’.

"My dream is for everyone to have a Waste-Away."

The invention won him a patent application worth up to $10,000 that has been accepted by the Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand.

The brightly coloured contraption works when food scraps are flushed down the home waste disposal, the water is separated from the scraps which go into a container where they are aerated and turned into rich compost over time.

"I was fed up with taking out the compost, so I invented a machine that would do it automatically."

Ryan and his invention have featured on television and made national news, but stardom isn’t all it’s cracked up to be for the modest youngster.

"It’s annoying being noticed."

With the help of Dr Robotech aka Chris Chitty from the school of engineering and advanced technology at Massey University, Ryan is continuing to monitor and tweak the Waste-Away prototype.

Mr Chitty has enjoyed working on kids’ inventions for Let’s Get Inventin’.

"They’re at my level, they’re honourable, kind, gentle ideas. They’re mostly to help people, not just trying to make money."

- © Fairfax NZ News