This 12-year-old schoolgirl designed a solar-powered heated blanket for homeless people after seeing them struggle through winter

Rebecca Young, then a Primary 7 pupil at Kelvinside Academy in Glasgow, wanted to solve a problem she had seen around her city: people experiencing homelessness struggling to stay warm on cold nights.

She developed the idea of a solar-powered heated blanket through Primary Engineer’s annual “If you were an engineer, what would you do?” competition. The programme asks pupils aged 3 to 19 to come up with engineering ideas that address real-world problems.

Young designed the blanket around a simple need. People sleeping outdoors may not have access to mains electricity, so her concept used solar energy instead. Foldable solar panels charge a battery during the day, allowing the stored power to run the heated blanket later.

Thales turned Rebecca’s drawing into a working prototype

The idea caught the attention of Thales Glasgow, which selected Young’s design to develop into a physical prototype during the 2023-24 academic year.

A team of Thales graduates and apprentices worked on the project while taking feedback from Young during its development. They built the prototype around three main components: a heated sleeping bag or blanket, solar panels and a battery pack.

The team also added a temperature-based control circuit to help manage the blanket’s heating and battery use. It designed the system so the blanket could fold into a backpack, allowing users to carry it more easily.

The prototype also included a small solar panel and battery pack, with the designers focusing on keeping the system lightweight. Primary Engineer said the prototype incorporated different heat settings and safety features.

The team unveiled the finished prototype at the Scotland West regional awards at the University of Glasgow on May 24, 2024.

The blanket moved from prototype to real-world use

The project did not stop at a school competition or demonstration model.

The Solar Powered Heated Blanket won a Silver Medal and the inaugural Commendation Award at the 2024 Primary Engineer MacRobert Medal ceremony. The public voted for the Commendation Award, recognising the potential of Young’s design to make a practical difference.

In June 2025, Thales announced that it would supply and donate 150 solar-powered heated blankets to six homelessness charities across the Glasgow region. The first 35 went to Homeless Project Scotland, where they were being used to support 31 temporary accommodation beds.

The finished blanket folds into a backpack, making it easier to carry. The design uses solar power rather than relying on a mains electricity connection, directly addressing the problem Young identified when she first created the idea.

From a 12-year-old’s idea to a wider engineering project

Primary Engineer said Young's original concept began during the 2022-23 academic year, when she was in Primary 7. Her idea first received recognition at a regional award ceremony in 2023 before Thales selected it for development.

The journey shows how the competition connects school pupils with engineers who can develop their ideas beyond the initial drawings. Primary Engineer's programme allows industry and university partners to select pupil designs and work with the young inventors to create working prototypes.

The organisation later said the project had continued to grow after the prototype stage, with Thales working towards 150 donated blankets for homelessness charities in Glasgow.

For Young, the invention began with a straightforward observation about people struggling to stay warm. Through the competition and collaboration with professional engineers, that observation became a working device designed for people who may not have access to electricity.