Silver Spring residents Catherine Sumi Kay and Shaun Sablowski say they have always had great ideas for inventions but never followed through on them. But now the house mom and the auto parts salesman are channeling their inner Edisons and making good on some of those ideas.
Each has patents pending for two products: Kay developed a portable potty-training platform made of recyclable plastic, and Sablowski invented flavored pen tops.
At the end of last year, Kay was struggling through a divorce and a failed online business endeavor. Her father also had a debilitating stroke.
When searching online for business ideas, she came across Whirlpool’s Mother of Invention program, a competition for “Mom-trepreneurs” with invention ideas.
Kay thought about the potty training of her 4-year-old daughter, Natalie, and how difficult it was to find a safe and convenient stepping platform for the youngster. With her brother’s help, Kay made sketches of a safe, “green” potty-training platform and developed a wooden prototype.
With her daughter as the model, she submitted a photographic essay explaining her product to Whirlpool. Design details could not be disclosed because the patent application is pending, but Kay described the product as a “safe, stable stepping platform” that is not available in stores.
Of the more than 2,200 entries nationwide, Kay won first place in the “green” category, because the platform is made of recyclable plastic. She received $7,000, which will go toward legal fees during the patent process.
Photo by respres.