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National Inventors Hall of Fame inductee visits Bethel Park

3 min read
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Sometimes father does know best.

When Alois Langer was growing up in Forest Hills, his dad, also named Alois, worked nearby as a Westinghouse chemist.

Harry Funk / The Almanac

Harry Funk / The Almanac

A Camp Invention participant shows off her “Robotic Pet Vet” miniature dog.

“He used to bring me little toys that actually came from the garbage,” the younger Langer recalled. “They were science things, stuff they had thrown away that they didn’t need. He would tell me what they were and how they worked, and I learned a lot from him. And I kind of knew I wanted to be an inventor.”

In 2002, Langer was inducted to the National Inventors Hall of Fame for his work on developing the implantable cardioverter defibrillator, which has become a life-saving device for countless people with heart rhythm problems.

He was in Bethel Park last month to meet and share his experiences with participants in Camp Invention, a program for kindergartners through sixth graders held at Neil Armstrong Middle School.

Sporting his hall-of-fame medallion around his neck, Langer visited classrooms where camp activities were taking place before participating in a question-and-answer session with youngsters, who had been briefed on his background.

Harry Funk / The Almanac

Harry Funk / The Almanac

A Camp Invention participant works on her “Mod My Mini Mansion” project.

One question, for example, addressed an incident in which the 1980 procedure to implant the first ICD went awry when a nurse dropped it to the floor. So, a student inquired, what became of that particular device?

“It’s at my house in Maryland,” Langer replied, adding in response to requests to see it: “I wish I had brought it. It’s a mistake I made.”

The nurse’s mistake 38 years ago wasn’t as catastrophic as it could have been.

“The other part of that story, which is kind of lucky, is we actually thought that something could happen to the first one, so we had another one,” Langer explained. “And then we were able to put that one into the patient.”

Harry Funk / The Almanac

Harry Funk / The Almanac

Students work on a Camp Invention project at Neil Armstrong Middle School in Bethel Park.

While at Neil Armstrong, he had the opportunity to see Camp Invention in action, taking a look at what the participants had created in following various components of the curriculum.

Examples include the Optibot, a small, self-driving robot that senses changes in light; Mod My Mini Mansion, constructing models of homes featuring technology and innovation; and Robotic Pet Vet, in which students work with miniature dogs to learn about anatomy and physiology, along with engineering and circuitry.

This is the third year Bethel Park School District has hosted Camp Invention, under the direction of Laura Huth, a special education teacher at William Penn Elementary School. The number of participants has grown from 74 to 152, as students from as far away as Beaver and Westmoreland counties are attending.

Harry Funk / The Almanac

Harry Funk / The Almanac

Alois Langer takes a close look at a Camp Invention participant’s “Mod My Mini Mansion” project at Neil Armstrong Middle School.

Instruction is by teachers, most from Bethel Park, with assistance from leadership interns, in 10th grade through college, and counselors-in-training, seventh through ninth grades.

“Everyone comes together with diverse knowledge, which makes for a very collaborative team,” Huth said.

Camp Invention is a summer educational program of the United States by the National Inventors Hall of Fame, a North Canton, Ohio-based nonprofit organization recognizes individual engineers and inventors who hold a U.S. patent of highly significant technology. Langer, who holds more than 30 patents, is among the many inductees who participate in the program.

“I’ve always said, if I can inspire one kid to actually be an inventor, that would be something great,” he explained, “because they’re the future.”

For more information, visit www.invent.org.

Harry Funk / The Almanac

Harry Funk / The Almanac

Alois Langer answers participants’ questions during Camp Invention at Neil Armstrong Middle School.

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