Alissa Chavez facts for kids
Alissa Marie Chavez is a young American inventor and business owner. She is famous for creating the "Hot Seat," a special alarm system for car seats. This invention helps make sure children are not accidentally left alone in cars. She also started her own company called Assila.
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Alissa's Early Life
Alissa Chavez was born in 1997 and grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Her mom owned a childcare business, and Alissa always loved working with kids. The children she met inspired many of her ideas for products.
Creating the "Hot Seat"
When Alissa was 14, she heard sad stories about babies dying after being left in hot cars. This made her want to help. She came up with the idea for the "Hot Seat" as a science fair project. Later, she improved her idea and got a patent for it.
How the Hot Seat Works
The Hot Seat has a special pad that goes into a child's car seat. This pad can tell if a child is sitting there. It connects wirelessly to a small device on a parent's key chain. If the parent walks more than 10 meters (about 33 feet) away from the car and the child is still in the seat, an alarm goes off. The alarm sounds on the key chain device, on the parent's smartphone through an app, and even in the car itself.
Bringing the Idea to Life
Alissa worked with engineers to make the Hot Seat perfect. She also raised money online through a website called "Indiegogo." This money helped her build a working model, called a prototype. Manufacturers can use this prototype to make many Hot Seats for people to buy.
Alissa started her own company called Asilla LLC. She named it by spelling her own name backward, just like Oprah Winfrey named her company "Harpo." In 2019, Alissa also announced a new invention: a baby bottle that keeps water and powdered formula separate until you're ready to mix them.
Amazing Achievements
After inventing the Hot Seat, Alissa got a lot of attention from the media. She appeared on many TV and radio shows, including the Today Show, NBC News, and Fox and Friends. She was also featured in newspapers like the Huffington Post and USA Today.
Glamour Magazine named her one of their "Woman of the Year: Hometown Heroes." Alissa has also given talks at TEDx events, Microsoft digital camps, and school events. She is featured in the book Girls Think of Everything by Catherine Thimmesh.
Alissa has won many awards for her inventions and business, including:
- Future Founders U. Pitch 3rd Place Winner
- Univision Premios Juventud
- 40 Under 40 Albuquerque Business First
- University of New Mexico Rainforest Pitch Competition Winner
- Gold American Business Award, Tech Startup of the Year
- Silver American Business Award, Tech Startup of the Year, Hardware
- Bronze American Business Award, Tech Startup of the Year, Software
- New Mexico Small Business Success Story
- Innovation New Mexico Honoree
- Good Samaritan Award from Mayor Richard Berry of Albuquerque, New Mexico
- Excellence Award from Albuquerque Public School District
Education and Skills
Alissa Chavez went to The University of New Mexico. She earned a bachelor's degree in Communication in May 2020. She then went on to get a master's degree in Public Administration in 2022.
Her education helped her gain many useful skills. These include strategic planning, marketing, customer service, and graphic design. She also learned about patents, which are important for protecting inventions. These skills help her get her inventions ready for mass production so more people can use them.
