What were you doing at the age of 15? Well, for Philip Hartman, this question seems easy to answer. Philip Hartman, a Colorado native, was on road trip with his family when he realized how dirty the windshield was on their car. It was at that very moment when Philip came up with the idea for steam-powered wiper blades. He called it “Steam Viper.” Thought process seems so simple, yet so genius. Philip wanted to eliminate the need to get out of the car and clean bugs off the windshield during a long road trip. However, Philip’s invention also covers the problem of icy windows during the winter time; “There should be a way that we don’t need to scrape our windows when they’re icy,” Hartman said. This invention demonstrated the ability to defrost a frost-covered windshield in about 15 seconds. This lead to Philip being the 2008 Young Inventor of the Year winner.

Now you never have to get out of the car to scrape your windows again in the freezing cold thanks to a 15 year old boy who used his knowledge to think of something so sufficient and helpful. Being home schooled his whole life was said to be very helpful to Philip, “I could never learn what I’m learning at college. They don’t teach it there, because it can’t be learned in that way.” Philip continues to work very hard at trying to find new ways to improve society. He says that in order to be successful, you must always be passionate about something. he states,  “It’s not easy. You’ve got to have a huge passion for it, along with a passion for helping out the world. If you’re just doing it for the money, then it doesn’t really work. You won’t end up being successful.”

Finding an opportunity to improve the world can happen anytime and anywhere. Think about that, this young man came up with this idea on a family vacation. Always be open to new thoughts, and when opportunity arises, take advantage of it.

If you would like to view a Q/A session with Philip, check out this link:

http://juniorbiz.com/interview-philip-hartman