Hannah Haas, a
13-year-old, home-schooled student from Charlotte, NC won the Grand Prize
in the second annual, nationwide Bubble Wrap Competition for Young
Inventors. Sealed Air Corp., the creator of Bubble Wrap brand cushioning,
made the announcement on Jan. 28 in conjunction with the celebration of the
8th annual Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day, a holiday honoring the
revolutionary packaging material invented nearly 50 years ago and
recognized around the world.
Haas’s invention, entitled “Sensory
Wallpaper,” used Bubble Wrap to create wallpaper that is designed to
stimulate, engage and comfort children afflicted with autism. The
invention, which combines a textured bubble surface containing large and
small bubbles on a calming, blue wallpaper background, edged out more than
1,400 entries and earned the eighth-grader the competition’s top
prize and a $10,000 U.S. savings bond.
