Schoolgirl designed StairSteady to help those with walking difficulties climb the stairs as part of her school project. Now she's running a firm selling StairSteady. She's just 16, and it's predicted StairSteady will make her a millionaire.


When Ruth Amos created a design for a handrail as part of a GCSE project, her main focus was to ensure she would get a good grade. The 16-year-old schoolgirl never expected that her design idea would be turned into a device that has helped change the lives of disabled and elderly people.

Now, three years on, she is running an expanding firm - and in a few years could potentially earn millions. This week the teenager's achievements were honoured when she was presented with the Young Star award at the Women of the Future awards in Central London.

Those using the StairSteady push the bar along the rail to help them balance when they want go up and down the stairs. The bar uses friction to lock itself in place so users can pull themselves up to the next step. It will lock in place if the user falls or stumbles. When not in use, the handle can be pushed flat against the wall.

Ruth's design was so good that a local company made a prototype for her. She won the Young Engineer of Britain award in 2006 and started her business - all at the same time as taking and passing 15 GCSEs.

The StairSteady, which costs £470, has been so successful that Miss Amos is now considering selling it abroad. She currently sells it nationwide, in partnership with Minivator, the UK's second largest manufacturer of stairlifts, and it is being bought at a rate of more than three per week.

http://www.sefermpost.com/sefermpost/2009/11/girl-16-stumbles-upon-riches-from-stairsteady-idea-for-school-project.html