Time Magazine Honors 12 Year Old Inventor Rebecca Young
At just 12 years old, Rebecca Young, from Glasgow, Scotland, became an inventor. She designed a solar powered heating backpack with an electric blanket inside to keep homeless people warm. To honor her, Rebecca was put on Time magazine’s first ‘Girls of the Year‘ edition, the first ever made.
Rebecca came up with this idea when she saw people sleeping on the streets during a glacial Scottish winter. The blanket charges during the day and keeps people warm at night. Now, 30 such blankets have already been distributed to a homeless shelter in Glasgow.
Rebecca entered her design in UK Primary Engineer Leaders Award, which is a national engineering competition that has over 70,000 contestants. She won the silver medal, and the Commendation Medal as well.
“To think something I’ve designed could one day help somebody on the streets is amazing.”
“If you see a problem you think you can fix, you can do something about it.”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/articles/cn02gz9nlw0o
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/aug/14/scottish-pupil-named-girl-of-the-year-for-solar-powered-blanket-design
