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American Inventor, the brainchild of Simon Cowell and Peter Jones, has returned for its exciting second season in search of America’s best new invention. The television show will uncover the hottest new product and make one struggling inventor’s dream come true. With one million dollars – and possibly much more – at stake, American Inventor will celebrate the best in homespun ingenuity.
National casting calls were held in six major US cities – Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Houston, and Tampa. Thousands of inventors, tinkerers, and entrepreneurs of all ages and backgrounds demonstrated their wares with their best passionate pitch in hopes of advancing to present to the four panel judges.
Joining Pat Croce on the expert panel of judges were George Foreman, Sara Blakely, and Peter Jones. They narrowed down the initial entrees and choose one finalist from each city who was given $50,000 of seed money to further develop or refine his/her invention for the semifinal round. In the end, it will be up to the American viewing audience to vote for one of the three finalists and the invention they feel is worthy of the $1,000,000 grand prize, moving that person one step closer to the dream of mass producing their product.
On Wednesday night, August 1st, the viewing audience voted for fireman, and father of six, Greg Chavez from Camarillo, CA. Friends and family gathered at a local pizza shop to watch as Chavez’s Guardian Angel, a Christmas tree fire suppression device, won the hearts of thousands of Americans. “It’s amazing,” says Greg. “’A year ago, I was sitting in a chair at the house and I was watching the show, and I told my wife, I am going to win next year.' And she said, I know you are.'"
The Guardian Angel is described as a small, pressurized tank of water that is placed under a Christmas tree disguised as a present. Connected to the tank is a small hose that runs up to an angel placed on top of the tree that contains a temperature-sensitive fusible link that reacts to excessive heat. When the link pops an alarm sounds while three gallons of water is dispensed over the tree and flames. The Guardian Angel was built to save lives and Greg Chavez’s dream has finally come true. First Alert, a company that designs fire safety devices, will be working with Greg to help bring his invention to the market. Congratulations to Greg and the entire Chavez family!
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