Quotes from Ann Makosinski

Sport is one way of keeping kids off their phones.

If I don't do something constructive every day, I feel like I have wasted my time, and I almost feel guilty for not doing something I could have learned from.

Creativity was born out of necessity because I didn't have many things to play with.

I'm really interested in harvesting surplus energy, energy that surrounds but we never really use.

Maybe thermoelectricity will be able to power a tablet someday.

It's very hard to juggle a science fair project as well as your schoolwork.

I think it is important to have a balance of science and arts to be able to be accessible in either fields.

My biggest hurdle usually has to do with concentration. I have a tendency to kind of start working on something, and then, all of a sudden, I'll totally divert and do something totally different.

I was listed in 'Time Magazine''s 'Thirty under Thirty' and have given three TED Talks, too.

I'd take garbage, and I'd glue them together and create inventions.

I'm probably not as good in the topics that I'm less passionate about than the ones I spend all my time on.

It is important for me to remember that time learning anything substantial, even if it's not my favourite topic, is time well used.

My first toy was a box of transistors.

I was always taking garbage from around the house and making my own toys. I wasn't given a Wii or an Xbox or anything.

I have lots of different interests. Any of my friends will know I'm interested both in science and in art.

I think parents are probably really excited for their kids and want to give them everything. But there should be a limit on how much you give your kids. Because kids are quite creative, especially at a young age when they don't really know what rules are.

What I kind of want to spread as my message to all kinds of youth that I get to reach out to is, you can do cool stuff; you've just got to put in time and be dedicated.

Phone screens are too small to properly appreciate YouTube videos.

I'm sure we've all had that annoying experience when we desperately need a flashlight, we find one, and the batteries are out. Imagine how much money we would save and the amount of toxins leached into the soil, etc., reduced if we didn't use any batteries in flashlights!

My attention span has never been on point - in school as well - unless I'm very, very, very into something.

Just because you're in college, or a university student, that does not mean you're the only thing you are.

I think everything starts with an idea. No matter how crazy it is, you should always try to bring it to life.

I just think we need to find a way, because we don't dispose of them very well; they have very bad chemicals in them. If we could just find a way, maybe start at a small step with eliminating batteries perhaps in small electronic devices, and then possibly in the future go bigger, that would be great.

Not being given everything encourages you to create... That was one of the first steps for me learning to invent things.