Perth College Inventor keeps it in the family

Sep 30 2008 by Alison Lowson, Perthshire Advertiser Tuesday

Inventor keeps it in the family

TANYA Ewing, British Female Inventor of the Year 2008, has won the Perth College Alumnus of the year 2008 award, three decades after her mother won the outstanding student award for her secretarial studies.

She collected the prize, which aims to recognise the accomplishments of former students at the College’s Graduation ceremony on Friday.

After turning 30 and with only a handful of GCSEs, Tanya realised she wanted to do something different and learn new skills, so signed up for part-time courses at Perth College in psychology, Tai Chi, photo and furniture restoration, reflexology and healthy cooking.

She said: “The choices I made were directly linked to my own health issues, as I had just contracted Lyme disease while playing golf in Portugal.

“Overnight, my life changed. Sport had always been my first passion and I went from having an extremely active life to being out of work and living on benefits.

“To cope with my condition, I focussed on understanding how to look after my body and keeping my mind active, thinking that the College’s photo and furniture restoration courses might help me start my own business.”

Today, Tanya is the British Female Inventor of the Year and devotes all her time and energy to the development of her very own invention, an energy-monitor called “Ewgeco”.

This is the first independent monitor for electric, water and gas, and the intuitive, real-time display uses a traffic light system to show how much energy is being used, together with costs and C02 emissions.

The idea came to Tanya after she received a large gas bill and wanted to get a better understanding of her energy consumption. Unable to buy anything that would help her, she researched the idea of producing a device that makes energy visible and encourages behavioural change.

Today, Tanya employs five people, has the majority shareholding in a company that is valued at several million pounds and has won numerous awards.

Last year, she took part in a public speaking course at Perth College, which gave her the confidence to stand on stage, most recently in South Africa, speaking with the country’s Deputy President and Minister for Minerals and Energy to an audience of 1,700 women.

She added: “I believe that the variety of courses offered by Perth College provides countless opportunities for people to study at a level and pace that suits their circumstances and lifestyle, as it worked for me.”

Ewgeco is being launched in Perthshire in October, initially to businesses.

All of Perth College’s former students – or alumni – automatically become members of a growing Alumni Association. For more information see www.perth.ac.uk.

Tanya will be speaking at Perth College's Centre for Enterprise first Big Munchie of the new term tomorrow (October 1) at 12.30pm in Brahan Lecture Theatre.

All members of the public are welcome to attend the lunchtime session.