Headline, March31, 2013

'''GENIUS ''STUDENT'​' INVENTOR :

 KOSKA'''

An ex-public schoolboy from Stowe, Koska's first full-time job was as a gold futures trader in the City. He hated it, and went instead to be a professional yachtsman in the Caribbean. Inspiration first struck while he was surfing in the Virgin Islands. ''I got trapped by the waves and was choking on salt water. All I wanted was drink of something fresh. What we need here, I thought is a bottle with a straw sealed in to keep out the salt water.'' Back in London, he showed his idea, to some of his City friends. One thing led to another, the bottle is now patented, and the Ministry of Defence thinks it could be useful for troops in gas warfare.

Around 2000, Koska invented a new kind of self-destructing syringe. A plastic trip causes the plunger to snap once it has been depressed, so that reusing or sharing the syringe is impossible. The implications for drug addicts are obvious. At the time, Koska represented a new breed of inventors. To succeed as an inventor, he says, you need a hard business head as much as a creative mind: ''Only just about 5 to 6% venture capital goes into new ideas in the UK, compared to over 30% in the United States.''

Koska says inspiration can strike at any time: ''In the car, in the bath, when I'm eating Turkish delight.'' In addition, he has come up with a new hair curling system, and there are his 'honey pods'. These pods   -liquid honey in soluble-cellulose shells  -were inspired, typically by an encounter with some intriguing brown honey crystals at the bottom of a bowl of muesli one morning. As a spin off, Koska invented cellulose-covered medicine spoons. ''No mess, no waste and the dosage would be just right. Perfect for children.''

Although these inventions are useful, it is the syringe that Koska really cares about. He has thought about the ethical problems raised by the invention: ie that the introduction of an Aids free needle might actually encourage drug abuse in certain quarters, but says, ''If a junkie wants to shoot up, he'll find a way. Of course, it would be better if they didn't shoot up at all, but while they do, my syringe is very much the lesser of two evils because it's not terminal.''

And on the !WOW! : World Students Society Computers-Internet-Wireless we will be thrilling ourselves with Inventions. Remember that!!

With respectful dedication to a world that is free of the menace of drugs!

Good Night & God Bless!

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless