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Ann Makosinski is a 24-year-old Polish-Filipino Canadian inventor, STEM, UN Youth ambassador, writer and influencer.
When Ann was fourteen years old, she found out that her friend Maria in the Philippines failed a grade in school because her family couldn’t afford electricity. Maria therefore had no light to study with when darkness hit at 6 pm, so Ann set about finding a solution. Ann ended up inventing the Hollow Flashlight, a flashlight that runs off the heat of the human hand. During the beginning of her grade 11 year, the flashlight went viral online and Ann won in her age category at the Google Science Fair in Mountainview, California.
Ann Makosinski then invented another device – the eDrink. The eDrink harvests the excess heat of one’s hot drink and converts it into electricity, giving one’s phone a boost of energy.
More awards and interviews followed, and Ann with her father set up Makotronics Enterprises Incorporated in Victoria BC to manage the patenting and licensing of her inventions.
Ann’s gift of speech and presentation launched her into becoming one of the most sought-after keynote speakers of her generation.
Ann Makosinski was then named on Forbes Magazine’s 30 Under 30 list in the Energy sector, and in Time Magazine’s 30 Under 30 World Changers.
Contact Great British Speakers today to book sustainability inventor, influencer, TEDx speaker Ann Makosinski for your next event.
Ann Makosinski was named one of Glamour Magazine’s top ten College Women of the Year, one of seven of Teen Vogue Global Earth Angels, one of Entrepreneur Magazine‘s “Young Millionaires”, and Popular Science’s “Breakout Young Inventor of the Year.” Ann appeared with Miley Cyrus for Converse, was named the global brand ambassador for the clothing brand Uniqlo and their unique heat-retaining fleece technology, in addition to endorsing many other brands including the Google Pixel 2, where she worked with Vice to create the campaign. She is also part of executive Julia Middleton’s global expedition to find a definition of leadership that resonates with women.
As of mid-2022, Anne was co-writing, co-producing and fronting a new online series on news site Freethink, “Your World On Money”, due to be released in December 2022. She is also writing her first book, focussed on the inventing mindset, due to be released in 2024.
Ann has frequently travelled the world delivering keynote talks, ranging from events hosted by McCann Erickson in NYC for their major clients, a private event at the Pictet Bank in Geneva, and the King Abdullah’s University for Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia where she presented talks to the university students, as well as local high school students.
She also had the honour of being invited as a Youth Ambassador on the Canada C3 Expedition, where she sailed through the NorthWest Passage on an icebreaker, while talking to the students in remote Inuit communities. Ann was honoured to be one of Canada’s five chosen representatives at the I7 in Turin, Italy, an innovation focused committee that reported their feedback on the Future of Work to the annual G7 conference. She also spoke at the Y20 Summit in Cordoba, Argentina, which was held in conjunction with the G20 conference.
Ann’s role as a speaker has led her all over the world, ranging from the AtlanTec Festival in Ireland, an EF Leadership Summit in Berlin, Forbes Impact Summit in NYC, the Congreso Futuro in Chile and an innovation summit in Timisoara, Romania. Ann received the Rising Star of the Year award at the first Greentech Festival, which was held in Berlin by F1 race car driver Nico Rosberg, and she returned in June 2022 to speak on a panel and interview other companies exhibiting at the event.
She has also worked with a variety of brands, ranging from the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) in their Future Launch Campaign, Hewlett Packard Enterprises on their supercomputers, Tradlands’ sustainable clothing line, and most recently Ann became one of the faces of Maybelline New York’s new Green Edition makeup line, a step forward towards more eco friendly packaging.
During 2019 and 2020, Ann worked on a collection of children’s toys that all ran off of green energy, which was profiled on CNN. She also studied acting for a year at the prestigious Herbert Berghof (HB) Studio. Right before the COVID-19 pandemic began, Ann managed to speak for the Lili’uokalani Fund in Honolulu, a Girl Scouts event in Omaha, at the International Project Management Forum in Dubai, the final event for Red Bull Basement University in Toronto, and at Zurich International School (ZIS).
“In general I tell the story of my life as a young inventor, my passion for tinkering beginning quite early, loving both the sciences and arts, alternative energy, how to make an idea in your head into a physical invention in front of you etc. I am very flexible and can cover many topics or whatever the client has in mind”.
Ann Makosinski – My Life So Far:
Ann is often asked to talk about her own journey in innovation, from early hot-glue-gun-and-garbage inventions through to science fairs, inspiring the young and old as she goes. She provides insights into how others can help spark meaningful change in the world.
Ann is passionate about the crucial yet often overlooked combination of science and art. Just as Steve Jobs supported “technology married with the humanities,” Ann also believes that the best products and inventions come from when art and science come together. Many of us are raised to look at art as a hobby and science as a career. The stereotypes surrounding people who pursue science, versus those who love art, are also still persistent and detrimental. Ann’s eclectic upbringing resulted in her having many skills and passions in either field, which has helped her immensely on her successful journey in the invention. She hopes to inspire more people to embrace their passions in either field.
As she received acclaim for her alternative energy inventions while going through high school, it came as quite a surprise to many when Ann announced she was pursuing a degree in English Literature rather than the sciences or engineering. But it shouldn’t have. Some of the most innovative people in history (Leonardo Da Vinci, for one!) had a crossover in both fields.
In this presentation, Ann tells her story and exemplifies to the audience how integrating the Arts & Sciences (into ones everyday life, the educational system, work situations etc.) can help one develop innovative mindsets. Studies show how students exposed to science-arts integration see improvements in reasoning, language skills and self-confidence. Ann is an example of a 2020’s Renaissance Woman, and she hopes to get more people on board the art-science movement.
Following her big win at the Google Science Fair, Ann was named in Time magazine’s 30 under 30 and went on to receive four major awards at the 2014 Intel Science and Engineering Fair and gave five TEDx talks. She brought her hollow flashlight to the Tonight Show in 2014, and was invited back to unveil her new eDrink invention, a travel mug that harvests excess heat from hot drinks and converts it into electricity to give your mobile phone’s battery a boost. Ann’s philosophy is ‘The only way to find out is to build it.’ In this presentation, she shares the benefits of pursuing curiosity, and how dreaming about something and asking, ‘How can I make this?’ can change the world.
Ann Makosinski – Being Creative in a World of Constant Distraction:
Social media can pull us in an endless cycle of distraction, despair and procrastination. Ann offers a range of strategies for shutting out the noise and focussing on creative activities to help spark a more positive life.
Ann Makosinski – Using Simplicity to Tame Our Complicated Technologies:
Most Gen Z’ers would recoil in horror, but Ann’s first phone at college was an ancient flip phone. By embracing a simpler relationship with technology, young people can reshape how they use these tools to further build a positive life.
Ann Makosinski – Innovation at Any Age:
Is it possible to be too old or too young to be an inventor? To Ann, the answer is an emphatic “no”. Whether it’s assisting panrets to encourage their children to learn, or helping an older worker to find their inner innovator, Ann shows how innovation is a key element of a fulfilled life.
Ann Makosinski – Inventing a World of Sustainability:
Everyone lives on a planet underdoing rapid change.
Everyone can invent.
So, let’s put those two things together and help the audience in seeing how they can use their creative thinking to create a more sustainable world.
Ann Makosinski – What is a Genius?
We tend to throw around the world “genius” as if it only applies to a very small number of innovators. Yet, by exploring the origin of the word, Ann helps every audience member realise it is possible to become your own genius.
Most 18 year old college sophomores are thinking about final exams, summer vacation, and dorm room shenanigans. But before 18-year-old Ann Makosinski ever stepped into a college classroom, she had won the Google Science Fair, garnered awards at the Intel Science and Engineering Fair, was featured in TIME Magazine, and appeared on the Tonight Show — twice. Instead of describing herself as the typical definitions of “entrepreneur” or “inventor,” Ann has coined a term for herself: “differentist.”
In today’s celebrated and well-documented innovation economy championed by Silicon Valley wunderkinds like Mark Zuckerberg, we have a tendency to think that the best new ideas are exclusively coming out of Bay Area, or the offices of Apple, Uber, or other tech giants. But sometimes, world-changing ideas come out of a home basement in the suburbs. Join Ann as she explains what it’s like to be a differentist in a world that’s constantly redesigning and reimagining itself, and charting new courses.
Ann Makosinski – Rediscovering and Nurturing Your Own Creativity:
As children, as are all creative, but as adults, we often find the opportunities to be creative dwindle with age. Ann shows how you can dust off and nurture your long-lost creativity.
Feeling inspired to be creative in whatever fields of interest or hobbies they have (that aren’t their jobs, just yet!), feeling empowered to take ideas in their head and actually follow through and make it into something physical in front of them, more knowledge on the crucial yet often overlooked combination of science and art – and how they can incorporate these areas more in their own lives, feeling inspired that they (the audience member) can invent and create a positive impact in the world – no matter what age, race, education or socioeconomic background. EXCITED FOR LIFE!!