sOccket Soccer Balls: Spotlight on Innovation

Some of the world’s best innovations are born from people without resources or expertise but who have passion, creativity and are striving to make the world a better place. Quite possibly my favorite invention of all time was created by 4 college girls: Jessica Lin, Jessica Matthews, Julia Silverman, and Hemali Thakkar. These girls became aware of the energy crisis in Africa and happened to be assigned to the same fall 2008 engineering class assignment at Harvard University. In turn, they invented sOccket. (Note: This invention gained publicity last year, but I just became aware of it so I thought it was worth covering today.) sOccket is a soccer ball that captures kinetic (motion) energy during play and stores it in the ball. At night, the ball can be plugged into (and power) an LED light. The ball captures enough energy in just 10 minutes of play to power the small LED for 3 hours of light once the sun goes down.

The original prototype functioned by using “an inductive coil mechanism similar to those found in shake-to-charge flashlights. The movement of the ball forces a magnet through a coil that induces a voltage to generate electricity” (Takepart.com). Unfortunately, this technology was expensive and only lasted for a few months of play before breaking down. The good news is that the model has been updated and will be released later this summer/fall. sOccket’s website offers further product information and how people can donate to this cause: http://www.soccket.com/

What is the need for this invention? Many take for granted the ability to flip a switch at dusk. However the energy crisis in Africa is one of staggering proportions. The following are statistics from the soccket.com website. “More than one out of every five people in the world lives without any access to electricity” (IEA, “World Energy Outlook” 2009). Which begs the question what do people do at night? Many use kerosene lamps that are potentially dangerous to the health of people and the environment. The effects of this hazardous source are clear, “indoor use of solid fuels is single-handedly responsible for almost 500,000 deaths per year in Africa” (WHO 2006).

This invention is far from perfect and is constantly being enhanced. However, the spirit of the invention is inspiring for so many reasons. sOccket demonstrates lessons we have all known since we were children, but do not always see in action. First ‘I am only one, But still I am one’ – These college girls were just people who put their talents to help a good cause where they could. Second: ‘Every little bit helps’ – The inventors are well aware this will not solve the world’s energy crisis, but they saw the opportunity to make a small but significant difference and took it. Third: ‘Teaching a man to fish’ - Co-founder Jessica Lin said it best, “[sOccket] is a new way of thinking about problems many people face on a day to day basis…and it enables empowerment, for children to literally power their own lives.” And isn’t that really the beauty of the whole project. Ref. soccket.com, takepart.com pic. takepart.com