Macinley Butson

18, from Wollongong, NSW – Inventing radiation protection for breast cancer patients.

Sitting around the dinner table one evening, Macinley Butson’s father, a medical physicist, mentioned a disturbing statistic: that one in 14 women with breast cancer undergoing radiotherapy develop cancer in their healthy breast. Macinley was shocked. An inventor from an early age – Macinley created a pair of adjustable tint sunglasses at just seven – the passionate year 10 student dedicated herself to a solution. “I’ve been working on it ever since,” says Macinley. As a result, Macinley has developed SMART Armour (Scale Maille Armour for Radiation Therapy) which protects a woman’s healthy breast during radiotherapy. “It’s been a long process,” she says. “I’ve come close to giving up, but a friend had cancer and passed away at the end of last year. It inspired me to keep going.” The prize money would help raise awareness, and provide training. “My dream is to have every breast cancer radiotherapy patient have access to SMART Armour,” she says.