FORT VALLEY, Ga. — On Thursday night, four Fort Valley State University students won big in the event called the 2019 Georgia Inventure Competition on Georgia Public Broadcasting. They presented a unique product in front of judges and a few thousand viewers at home. Their product -- the "Extendosocket," a new way to charge your devices.
"Imagine a retractable extension cord in the same location such as your office or study room. That was our thinking and that was our objective," said senior Ryeshia Cutliff during Thursday night's presentation.
The cord would stretch up to six feet and can easily go back into the outlet with the push of a button.
Junior Keandre Leaks explained how it works in front of the judges. "After use, it can automatically be reeled back into the wall outlet by the push of a button, thus eliminating the trouble of manually rewinding the extension cord and stowing it."
Cutliff says they got the idea for the product while working in the campus greenhouse and had to clean up. "The pressure washer cord wouldn't reach... and so we came up with the concept of 'Extendosocket.'"
Leaks says they will use the prize money to look for investors and eventually put it on the market. "As a whole, we're going to continue to improve upon the invention and make sure that it's ready to go on the market and we have it the way that we want to have it."
The product is theirs to keep, and they get to choose any spot on campus to show off their new trophy.
Team Extendosocket beat out teams from Mercer University, University of Georgia, and Georgia Tech to win the grand prize.