Fall for us! – Emily G., Shay O., Capri J., Jenie J.

Have you ever seen an infant trying to walk, and they’ve fallen dangerously close to the corner of a table? Imagine if the baby actually hit the table. Each year thousands of children are severely injured just from falling on their heads. At Little Newtons & Co. we are trying to fix this problem.

Description of Problem

        500,000 children under fourteen visit the emergency room for brain injuries. Of those, 28% are infants who have fallen on a stationary object (deceleration force), or been hit with a moving object (acceleration force). (Schutzman, 2015) Falls, concussion from falls, and fractures from falls are the most common mechanism of

injury in infants, and these injuries can lead to permanent brain damage, traumatic brain injuries, impairment of motor skills, and development issues.

Company Origin and Qualifications

          Little Newtons & Co. was founded at the Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders in Austin, Texas, in September of 2015. Our company was created by those participating in the Biomedical Pathway Field, who are sufficiently educated in TBI’s (Traumatic Brain Injuries), the physiology of body, and biology. The Coordinator is Emily Gentry, a hard-working tenth grader who is readily motivated to solve the problem. The Monitor and Evaluator is Capri Johnson, a caring and focused worker who is full of great ideas to help our company. The Research Investigator is Ishajanek Overton, an innovative and dedicated tenth grader ready to get the job done. The Implementer is Jenie Jaimes Martinez, a passionate and involved worker who is always there with a solution.

Mission

          At Little Newtons & Co. we are trying to decrease this number as quickly as possible. We are creating helmets for children learning to walk, to decrease the amount of damage done if the child hits their head on a hard surface, while keeping the comfortability of infants in mind.

          Too many children each year are left with severe damage to their brain because of a head injury sustained by falling on a stationary object. At Little Newtons & Co. we are striving to decrease the number of children going to the hospital each year. To do so we have to understand the extent of the injuries, and what parts of the head are actually being injured. Looking at the physiological and biomedical aspects of this problem has helped us develop our product.