Bangor 8th grader wins award in national invention competition

BANGOR, Maine (WABI) - An eighth grader from James F. Doughty School in Bangor was recognized for an invention she designed for a national competition.

Kaitlyn Kelleter entered the 2021 Raytheon Technologies Invention Convention with an invention she calls “Happy Kelp.”

She spent the year researching how kelp forests in the oceans can overheat and stop producing oxygen and other benefits.

Her design calls for a solar powered device which would cool the water around kelp plants.

Kelleter has been concerned about the health of the world’s oceans since sixth grade.

”Actually, I thought of this first with coral. The device went through a lot of change over two years, but I ended up keeping the general idea all the way through to eighth grade,” said Kelleter, Invention Convention award winner.

Kelleter received a patent application as an award for her design.

She’s looking forward to starting high school in the fall.

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