BK Student Wins National Award For Epileptic Safe-Space Invention

CLINTON HILL, BROOKLYN — A local Brooklyn student's invention inspired by her own struggles with epilepsy has been chosen from submissions across the country for an engineering competition.

Uma Smith, a Brooklyn native and Pratt Institute grad, won the James Dyson Award, a national competition for those aiming to solve real-life problems with their inventions, Dyson announced Thursday.

Smith's invention, called Cocoon, creates a portable safe space for epileptics when they have a seizure. It was inspired by Smith's own struggle with epilepsies — three out of the four times she's been hospitalized for her seizures they were away from her caretakers and typical safe-spaces.

"Cocoon promotes independence in epileptics so they don’t feel scared to have a seizure in a different environment," she said. "I didn’t think that should be an issue epileptics should worry about — they should feel safe wherever they are."

The portable kit creates a roll-out mat with head support where the person can lay down when a seizure is coming on. It includes a built-in chip that senses when a seizure is coming on and alerts an ambulance within five minutes. The mat has step-by-step instructions on the mat for bystanders to know what to do.

Soon, Smith said, Cocoon will also be set up with an accelerometer, a pressure sensor and a migrant controller so it will be a completely self-sufficient product.

She wanted Cocoon to be different from other products for epileptics, like head gear, in that they wouldn't feel embarrassed to use it, Smith said.

The design included going through about 40 different prototypes in her design to make sure she would get it right. But Smith said that was all part of the process.

"It's important to fail and it's important to start up again," she said. "Eventually, you do come to an idea that works and you have more faith in yourself every single time you mess up and every single time you get up."

By winning the Dyson award, Smith won $2,500. The Dyson award is named after the company's founder and also selects international winners and finalists, who could get up to $35,000 for their inventions.

"Young design engineers have the ability to develop tangible technologies that can change lives," James Dyson said. "The James Dyson Award rewards those who have the persistence and tenacity to develop their ideas."