Some of our dreamers

Damion Kendrick: Working hard to live his dream of being a successful comic book artist and making a name for himself in the comic world, Damion Kendrick is the founder of Damage Arts Studio. He finally released his anticipated manga action comedy series "Chang Fury" in 2005 which became a hit in his local hometown and still capturing fans around the world! The first installment to his new 4 part mini series "Shattered Realm" has finally released in 2008 and has received positive reviews! Damion is a huge fan of anime and martial art films and uses them as inspiration in his work! Make sure you stop by and see the projects Damion is working on or just to say "HI" and ask him about his Akron Metro Bus photo op. www.damagearts.deviantart.com

Stephen Beirne: To pass the time during long hospital stays, Stephen Beirne wrote and created a book for his personal enjoyment - now he hopes to share the story with others. With the help of the Learned Owl Book Store owner, Liz Murphy, and the Make-A-Wish Foundation, a team of publishing professionals granted Stephen's wish to have his works published. Stephen's first published novel November Reign is available at the Learned Owl Book Store in Hudson, Ohio, with all proceeds benefiting the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Stephen would love to hear from you through his website, www.stephenvbeirne.com..

Ja'Shon Harris: As a result of his participation in the "Inventucation Academy," during the 2008 UBMS Summer Program (Upward Bound Math / Science), Ja'Shon Harris is on the verge of solving a real life problem that has plagued young teens for many years. The problem is that the dye used in making blue jeans has a tendency to bleed on teen's tennis shoes, which is impossible to remove, thus ruining the shoes. Ja'Shon has witnessed classmates doing ridiculous things to prevent blue jean dye bleeding on sneakers. Examples include: students tucking their pants into their socks; putting plastic bags over their shoes; and even taping materials on top of their shoes. Motivated by a critical thing problem solving project in the summer Inventucation class, Ja'Shon has discovered a much more practical solution to the problem. Experimenting in his basement, with a combination of commercial stain resistant products, Ja'Shon has isolated a solution that when applied to shoes, totally prohibits the dye from bleeding onto them.

After this breakthrough was presented to the UBMS coordinator, Mr. Vesalo, a meeting was arranged with a polymer science faculty member and administrators at the National Museum of Education to develop an action plan in order to eventually market his invention.

Ja'Shon is currently working in The University of Akron Polymer Science labs after school and on weekends under the supervision of polymer science faculty to isolate the specific chemical ingredients or combination of ingredients in his solution that prevents the blue jean dye from bleeding. After this determination has been made, the plan is to develop a spray that can be patented and marketed.

The professionals from the National Museum of Education who have assisted hundreds of young inventors get patents for and market their products, feel that Ja'Shon's invention "can't miss." As a result of what Ja'Shon has accomplished in less than a year, the National Museum of Education has already chosen him as a finalist for this year's prestigious Young Entrepreneur Award. This award is presented annually at the National Gallery for Young Inventors Induction Ceremony.