Woman on Top – January 2008
Emily Cummins, inventor of the solar powered refrigerator

Twenty-year old Emily Cummins has been called a sustainable designer, a serial ethical inventor, and a “teenprenuer.” Whatever her label, one thing about Emily is indisputable: she is already a woman on top. After graduating high school, she spent a year in Africa developing a solar powered refrigerator for use in third world countries where electricity is in short supply. Her invention earned her numerous accolades from the engineering community and media alike. A true innovator, though, Emily has no intention of stopping there. She continues to adopt an inventive approach to problem-solving and encourages other young people to think and create.

When Emily was four years old, she received a hammer so she could work side-by-side with her grandfather in his work shed. She enjoyed observing her grandfather as he crafted toys and jewelry boxes out of simple materials. As she got older, though, Emily became captivated by the notion that she too could create objects using just scrap materials and her grandfather’s tools. This early interest in design translated into a serious drive to solve problems through innovation.

She created her first noteworthy design at age fifteen for a major school project. After noticing that her arthritic grandfather had difficulty squeezing a tube of toothpaste, Emily created a toothpaste dispenser that allows the user to push on a lever rather than squeeze a small tube.

By the time she graduated from secondary school, Emily had become interested in inventing products for developing countries. She planned to enter a university immediately after graduation but decided instead to conduct her research in a real world scenario. She ventured to Africa to volunteer at a Namibian school and develop her design for a solar powered refrigerator. Emily wanted to take refrigerator technology “back to the basics” so it could be used in the third world where electricity is scarce. Using an aluminum cylindrical container and sheep wool to hold water, she created a refrigerator that would cool its contents through an evaporation process. The refrigerator needs no electricity, relying instead on solar energy. Emily’s refrigerator is ideal for transporting medicines and even storing food and water.

Upon returning to the UK after her year in Africa, Emily secured funding so that her product could be refined and even manufactured on a large scale. In addition to gaining material support, she earned a string of engineering and technology awards for her solar powered refrigerator. She was named the Technology Woman of the Future at the Women of the Future Awards in 2006. The Young Engineers for Britain called Emily’s refrigerator “The Project with the Most Benefit to the Community.” She also won the British Female Innovator of the Year Award in 2007.

Emily enrolled at the University of Leeds to pursue a degree in management, but she contends that engineering, technology, and sustainability projects still factor into her academic and extracurricular work. Additionally, she is designing a second generation solar powered refrigerator. Although her initial design operated well, Emily hopes to design a model which can cool to lower temperatures. She also visits Africa to teach people there how to produce her first model.

Finally, she serves as an ambassador for the Make Your Mark campaign to help young people make their ideas happen. The campaign offers a range of resources for fostering creativity in teenagers and young adults. As an ambassador, Emily delivers lectures to schools and community groups about sustainability and the environment. By identifying the problems, she believes she can encourage young people to discover imaginative solutions.

In 2007, The Independent named Emily one of “the next big things.” Of course, the young inventor has already established herself as “something big.” Her solar powered refrigerator serves a useful and necessary purpose in the third world. Furthermore, her own efforts motivate young people to exercise their creativity. Through her work as a Meet Your Mark ambassador and an innovator, Emily may be inspiring “women on top” for the future