Third Grader Recognized for Invention for Hearing Impaired
I Cubed Inventions, a student invention competition for children grades 1-8, named third grader Hannah Schow as the first place winner of the 2015 I Cubed Challenge for her Deaf-Mic invention, which is aimed at assisting people who are hard of hearing to understand words more clearly. The Deaf-Mic is a microphone that captures people’s spoken words and transcribes the words as text on a smartphone. Hannah, born without ears due to a genetic disorder called Treacher Collins disease, was motivated to help others with hearing loss.
COJK attorney Casey Fitzpatrick was a judge in the I Cubed Challenge competition, casting one of the winning votes for Hannah. Casey facilitated a meeting between Hannah and a representative at Microsoft, which resulted in the technology company hosting Hannah for a private tour of the Redmond facility and an actual working prototype of her Deaf-Mic invention.
