A young Salford inventor has won a national engineering award for creating colour-changing glasses that could help people with dyslexia read more easily, with the prototype already attracting interest from the NHS.
Millie Childs developed the idea while she was a pupil at Light Oaks Junior School, taking part in Primary Engineer, a national STEM competition that challenges pupils to design creative solutions to real-world problems.
Her invention, Rainbow Glasses, features a pair of glasses with interchangeable or adjustable coloured lenses designed to reduce visual stress and improve reading comfort for people with dyslexia.
As part of the competition, engineers from Thales UK in Cheadle selected Millie’s design to turn into a working prototype. After months of research and testing, the team produced an LED-based solution that allows the lenses to shift between red, green or blue depending on the user’s needs.
Millie, now a Year 7 pupil at Co-Op Academy Swinton, has gone on to win a Gold Award in the Primary Engineer MacRobert Medal, the sister award to the UK’s most prestigious engineering prize, the MacRobert Award.
Her former teacher, Rob Entwistle, collected the award on her behalf during the ceremony in London last week.
This week Millie returned to Light Oaks Junior School to talk about her invention and inspire the next generation of young engineers.
Millie, 11, said: “My dyslexia has always made reading a challenge, so I wanted to invent something that could make it easier. Seeing the engineers turn my idea into real glasses has been incredible. The thought that they might one day help other people with dyslexia is something I’m really proud of.”
Millie’s mum, Sarah, added: “Millie has loved every second of this experience and it has really motivated her. She has been excited through the whole journey and she is so hopeful about the future. Her grandad was an engineer and this is the sector she has always wanted to work in, and her dreams have been made into a reality.”
Teacher Rob Entwistle said: “Millie’s idea stood out from the moment she presented it. She wanted to help others who faced the same challenges she did. Watching her idea grow from a drawing into a working prototype has been inspiring.”
