Students design product for everyday challenges

Three young people simplify morning makeup routines.

Following the proven adage that necessity is the mother of invention, three Gwinnett students turned to their personal challenges to come up with a product for their design class. The senior girls at Lanier High’s Center for Design and Technology in Duluth not only hit on an idea to simplify morning makeup routines, they also patented it and copyrighted the instructions.

Friends Macy Dykes, Lauren Eshelman and Savannah Jones teamed up to brainstorm projects for their technology class and discovered they all hated messing with eyeliner.

“We wanted to focus on something we’d use in our everyday lives,” said Dykes. “We came up with an easier way to apply eyeliner by designing a stamp in the shape of an eye, so you don’t have to draw the liner on. It really makes mornings go faster.”

A rough sketch of the concept was presented to a “shark tank” panel of teachers, local business people and investors, and they all agreed that the idea had serious potential. Two of the panelists stepped up to mentor the team and to get the product to market. One of the first steps was obtaining a patent.

“One guy, Dave Hughes, was lit up by the simplicity and their energy for the idea,” said Mike Reilly, a Lanier High STEM teacher who founded CDAT in 2010. “He helped them pursue patents and taught them do patent searches, as well as trademark and copyright research. He even got them a pro bono lawyer who deals with intellectual property around inventions. They submitted the paperwork and waited.”

A few months ago, the team was notified that they had earned a patent for their product – the first time, Reilly says, that a Lanier High, and possibly a Gwinnett district, student earned such a distinction.

“When the girls got that paperwork, it was a really neat moment,” he said. “They even asked if their parents needed to sign it, and we had to tell them, ‘This is all you.’”

Jones said the product is the result of CDAT’s emphasis on collaboration and problem-solving. “At CDAT, we are always taught to work together with our peers. It teaches us how it is going to be in the real world, not just in aclassroom. This project proved everything I had learned about working in a group. While it may be difficult, it is necessary to complete a better project than if we did it by ourselves.”

The almost 450 students in the STEM-certified academy spend half of their school hours working on problem-solving projects, said Reilly. “We invite them to take a look around and decide what a solution to a problem would be. And that solution may be engineering driven, or it might involve language arts or math.”

The eyeliner stamp proved to incorporate elements of several studies as the team wrote the directions and specifications, came up with a design and 3-D prototype, researched patents and copyrights and found ways to showcase their idea outside of the school.

“Now that we have the official rights to it, we’re working on getting it out in public,” said Dykes. “We’re also figuring out what materials we can use to make it. Our goal is to have a major makeup company lease the patent.”

Even though the team has graduated and is preparing for college in the fall, they’re still committed to bringing the product to market, Dykes said. “We’re all invested, and best of all, we’re still friends.”

Reilly also believes the product has a future. “I don’tsee this patent as a conclusion, but an ignition point that is exciting for these girls and serves as an example and can motivate others in their peer group.”

Lanier High students (from left) Macy Dykes, Savannah Jones and Lauren Eshelman worked with mentors Mark Jones (left) and David Hughes to secure a patent for a makeup product they designed as part of their senior coursework.