Sydney Mehl wins second place at Astounding Inventions contest.

IRVINE, Calif., January 28, 2006 -- Sydney's hard work in the Astounding Inventions contest paid off. As you may recall, Syd was named one of twelve winners from her grade school to compete at Irvine Valley College with all Irvine and Tustin schools. The competition was held on Saturday the 28th.

About 150 kids, ranging from Kindergarten to eighth grade, were on hand. A majority of the kids were in the third, fourth and fifth grades. Displays were set up the prior Friday in the college gymnasium. Saturday morning, we showed up at 9:30 am for judging. Each child had to stand by their invention and prepare to explain it to one or two judges. The parents had to sit in bleachers and crane to see their children present. Syd was one row away from us, so we managed to get a few shots of her overhead and in between other displays.

For those of you who may not remember, Syd's invention was called the Book Finder. It was conceived to help bookstores and libraries find misshelved books. It consisted of scanners placed upon bookshelves that scanned RFID-tagged books each night, compiling a report and sending it to a computer for employees to download and use to identify and retrieve lost books. She had to do research, interview a librarian and a Barnes & Noble employee, build a prototype, and create a display that explained the entire contraption. She did a fantastic job and was very proud of her work.

That hard work was rewarded. Each of the kids at the competition received an award. The Honorable Mention group (third place) accounted for about 50% of the kids. Outstanding Inventors (second place) was probably about 30% -- this included Syd. They each received a red ribbon and $25 cold hard cash. (Actually, the check's in the mail.) The remaining 20% won Division Awards and got blue ribbons plus $50.

Although Syd's invention was truly forward-thinking for a seven-year old, it appears most of the blue ribbons went to gimmicky, cute inventions...marshmellow roasters, backpack holders and screams-in-a-box. Go figure.

Syd's post-win afterglow was reignited this past Thursday when, much to all of our surprise, her photo was featured in the Irvine World News -- a weekly, regional insert into the OC Register. There was our Syd, front and center. She wasn't mentioned by name, but the impact was significant. She took the paper to school where she was greeted by her classmates with oohs and aahs.

All in all, the biggest lesson of this contest was not just that Syd came up with a great idea, but that she overcame her apprehension about the project, gave it her all, and was rewarded. We're all tremendously proud of her, and I'm sure this will be a lifelong memory for her.