Overheating, or hyperthermia, is just as dangerous as hypothermia. And the consequences of a child being trapped in a car in direct sunlight can be tragic. Every year, several dozen children die around the world as a result of their parents leaving them in the car, having gone on business, forgetting about their presence there, or the children themselves getting into an open car and becoming trapped.

Scientists all over the world have proposed solutions to this problem, but none have proven to be truly effective. Lydia Denton, a 12-year-old American schoolgirl, stepped in. The girl was struck by the frightening statistics and, having never been interested in invention before, decided to create a device that would aid in the prevention of this problem in the future.

Instead, she and her 14-year-old brother and 10-year-old sister began working on the system’s design. Lydia attached a sensor to the toddler car seat that would activate when more than 2.2 kg was placed in the chair. After that, a sensor in the cabin began to monitor the temperature, and when it reached 38.8 degrees, a special application began to sound the alarm, sending a message about the danger to parent devices as well as the emergency service.

Lydia received a cash prize of $20,000 as a result of her invention. The girl is pleased that her idea has the potential to become a valuable resource for people, and, more importantly, that it is reasonably priced. The device is estimated to cost around $50.