【推荐2】McMaster student Lianna Genovese, who invented a device called Guided Hands that allows people with limited hand movement to draw, write and paint, has been chosen as Canada’s national winner of the 2021 James Dyson Award.

Genovese was only 18 years old when she created the first version of the aided device in a course that introduces students to engineering design in the biomedical engineering fields. As part of the design projects for that first-year course, students worked with customers in the community. Genovese met Elissa, a woman living with dystopia. “Elissa mentioned that she had a hard time doing the buttons on her shirt, a hard time writing, but one thing that really stood out to me was that she had a really difficult time painting and that she was a talented painter,” Genovese said. “I wanted to help give her back her passion and improve her quality of life.”

Genovese said she saw a way that a device could assist. Her design was made on the principle of a 3D printer, with a person’s hand as the nozzle (喷嘴). The device’s unique sliding mechanical device guides hand movements in all directions when the user grasps a handpiece (手持件) tailored to their level of hand impairment (损伤). The handpiece can hold a variety of writing tools such as pens, pencils, paintbrushes, markers, etc. Genovese had a list of people testing the first few versions. Finally, she found one that worked. “Elissa loved it and she was able to paint again,” she said.

“Then I visited every single hospital, clinic, nursing home and retirement home in my city, and introduced it to over 150 patients and doctors,” Genovese said. One girl named Bella, who suffered cerebral palsy, tried the device out. “As soon as she began painting, the widest smile spread across her face. She turned to her mom and said, ‘Mom, I want one.’ At that moment, I realized this is an invention that can change the lives of so many people,” Genovese said.

【推荐3】Angela Guzman was born in Bogota, Colombia. At the age of 8, she moved to a tiny island in South Florida. The contrast was pretty vast. She didn’t speak any English, so she met with lots of challenges. At school, she would get stuck because she couldn’t understand or be understood. She thought, “Well, everyone understands a picture! Why don’t I start drawing to communicate?” That was what she did. She tried hard to create pictures to show her meanings exactly, and then she became known as the artist in the classroom, from third grade through her whole years of secondary schooling. Later she chose to study design in college.

When Angela began her work in a big company, she was tasked with designing emojis — the company’s very first. At first, she intended to refuse the task because she had no idea what the word meant and what emojis would be used for. Her mentor said that the emoji was an icon (图标), an image, or a type of illustration, sharing joy, surprise, anger, fear, sorrow, love and so on.

Angela then began to study microexpressions of humans and simplify or exaggerate (夸大) them in an illustrative manner. For example, the eyebrows make a V in anger and an upside down V in surprise. When she designed object emojis, she often turned to real-life items. She went to the party supply store, buying party poppers (派对烟花) to watch how the colorful paper pieces came out, and how light reflected off them. They were hard to capture, but Angela tried to make it.

Later, the tiny icons Angela and her mentor created were born and soon used by millions of people. When people praised Angela for her emoji design, she replied, “Actually, it’s an experience that teaches me a lot. One major thing is empathy (共鸣) for communities worldwide. I pay close attention to the symbolism of color and the cultural symbolism overall. I think the cultural questions are important. For example, how do we make sure that every culture, every accent, or every person that speaks to these devices feels included? That was something I struggled with early on. This kind of thinking allowed my mind to be inclusive and mindful of everyone who would use the product.”

【推荐1】I had little in the way of money when I took this job in Ft. Lauderdale. One noon, I felt very hungry, so I sat outside at a little park and had a small piece of bread, ate half with a glass of water. I was OK with that. I thought about my work and enjoyed the sun, birds and people, taking out any problems I had.

A tall man walked to me who was not dressed well and began a conversation about little things. I always dressed clean and neat well. So he thought I had money. He said, "Could you please give me some money?"I said, "I don't have any."

He kept on asking, and I said, "I really don't have any."

He then became sarcastic and said, "I know the persons like you, you wouldn't give anybody anything."That made me mad. I became angry because he doubted me. I looked at him and gave my wallet to him, "Look in my wallet."

He then said "sorry" to me and opened his wallet and said, "Here I will give you some."

I looked at him in surprise and said, "No, thank you." Then I walked away.

It's good to remember that people can always surprise you.

【推荐3】We never knew what Walter was, but we called him an idiot (白痴). We called him that without knowing if he really was as foolish and as stupid as an idiot.

______________. She was interested in people no one else loved. When Grandmother learned about Walter, she told my mother she wanted Walter to bring the food to the house. Mother, of course, was strongly against it. She did not trust Walter. But Grandmother simply said, “Oh poor, you are 42 years old, Sarah.” And then she telephoned the people at the food store and told them to let Walter bring the food.

The first time, Walter came to the house, he told Grandmother he was going to get a girl. Grandmother told him how nice it would be. She said the trouble with young man today is that they do not know how to win a girl’s heart. “You must be honest”, she said. Walter just stood there and listened. Grandmother then told him how her husband won her heart.

Walter and Grandmother became close friends. Every time he came with food, she had a talk ready for him.

Later, she began to read books to Walter. The first book was called “How to dress when you go out with a girl?” The next book told how a young man should act when he meets the girl’s parents.

As time passed, Walter listened harder than before. He never took his eyes off Grandmother as she read. When she smiled, he smiled too. When she was serious, Walter became serious. She read about the problems of early friendship. “How to become better friends and how to decide your girl is the right one to marry.”

Grandmother was almost finished reading one day, when Walter stopped her.

“Mrs. Gorman, I have a girl, a girl like you always talking.”

“Isn’t that wonderful, tell me about her, is she nice?”

“I like her very much.”

“Well, she must be. What’s her name?”

“I forgot. I told her my name was Walter.”

“Would you be kind to her as a gentleman?”

“All the time, I told her the nice thing.”

“I am proud of you, Walter, is she pretty?”

Walter did not answer.

“She must be nice,” Grandmother said. “I hope you comb your hair and wear a coat when you see her. And you must promise me that you will always be a gentleman.”

After that, Grandmother read “How to Choose the Right Wedding Ring and How to be prepared for Marriage?” She seemed to be in a hurry as if Walter might get married before she had finished his education. The next book she read to Walter was “How to love your wife?” Soon after Grandmother finished reading it, she died.

The morning after she died, Mom telephoned the food store and told them not to send Walter any more.

Then one day, I saw him. He looked different. He was wearing a suit, the coat was old, and the trousers had been worn many times. He wore a white shirt and a tie. I waited until he walked up to me, and I walked along with him. “Hello, Walter, do you remember me?” He turned quickly toward me, then smiled as he recognized my face.

We walked a few steps in silence. Suddenly, I had the old feeling that Grandmother was still alive and Walter was still coming to the house. Without thinking, I asked “How is your girl, Walter?” Suddenly, he pulled me close to him and shouted “She is still alive! She is still alive!” His cry was loud and real. He pushed me away from him and I fell to the ground. He ran down the street. As I got off, I could still hear him crying until his voice was lost among the sounds of playing boys.