THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 29, 1994 TAG: 9407280204
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JO-ANN CLEGG, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines
HE WAS BORN on Christmas morning, bears a striking resemblance to the perennial kid known as Dennis the Menace, goes by Robert (not Bob or Bobby, as he is quick to point out) and, at the age of 7, has already been recognized for something he invented.
Back in prehistoric times when he was only 6.
To set the record straight, Robert Rakowski's resemblance to the comic strip character is mainly physical. As rising second-graders go, he's a pretty well-behaved young man.
And he's serious about the invention which won him a $200 savings bond and recognition as the top inventor in the kindergarten division for the state in last year's Invent America! competition.
The bond, which took almost a year to arrive, was finally presented to Robert in a hastily organized surprise party in his first-grade classroom at Fairfield Elementary School just a couple of days before summer vacation.
The menu for the party included the usual punch and cake. It did not include servings of Robert's invention. But then that's understandable. His invention, Robert's Cereal in a Second, is normally consumed much earlier in the day.
How Robert happened to come up with his winning entry in the national contest is one of those combinations of opportunity, necessity, serendipity and an inquiring mind which has led the likes of Edison and Ford down the same path.
When Lorrie Voshell, his kindergarten teacher, started her class on the invention process, she asked them to think about problems they had and what they could invent to solve those problems.
Robert's problem loomed large in his 6-year-old mind.
The youngest of three (sister Susan is a Kempsville High School senior, brother Jeff is a freshman), Robert wanted to be able to get his own breakfast like the big kids did.
``Only I couldn't pour the milk without spilling it or dropping that big jug,'' he said of the gallon containers needed to supply a family of five.
The youngster's solution was one of those ``How come I didn't think of that?'' things. Add milk to the cereal box.
``I explained to him about powdered milk,'' his mom said, ``and the next step was to do the research to see if anyone else had done it before.''
In Robert's case, that research was done at the neighborhood supermarket. ``We looked at all the cereals to see if any had milk in them,'' Robert said.
Not finding his product on the shelves, he measured cereal and dry milk powder into a sandwich bag and sealed it. Robert's Cereal in a Second needed only a shot of tap water to be ready for consumption.
The closely knit Rakowski family (dad, Paul, is a civilian engineer with the Navy), were thrilled as Robert won at the school, area and state levels. The adults were also impressed with the other inventions they saw entered in the contest sponsored by the United States Patent Model Foundation.
``It was just amazing what they had come up with,'' Julie Rakowski, who can't help but wonder if there's a future for Robert's Cereal in a Second, said.
``It seems like such a great idea, I'm going to check (with the contest's sponsors) to see if there's a next step.''
Stand by. Young Master Rakowski's truly instant cold cereal may yet show up in a supermarket. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by JO-ANN CLEGG
Robert Rakowski, right, invented his ``Cereal in a Second'' at age 6
when he found he couldn't lift the gallon container of milk like his
older siblings, Susan and Jeff. The solution: powdered-milk cereal
and water.
KEYWORDS: INVENTION INVENTOR by CNB