A watched pot will stir itself Mac and cheese inspires hands-off cooking device
Eric David O., was watching football a few months ago when he felt a pang of hunger strike. He decided to cook some macaroni and cheese. "I kept having to go back and forth, trying to stir it" while trying not to miss any of the program, he said. "I don't have TiVo," he said. That's about when Eric an avid cook, was hit by a stroke of inspiration. What if there was a pot that stirred itself, eliminating the need for manual stirring and thus freeing the chef to watch football games without interruption? The idea evokes images of the bewitched kitchen appliances that dance around the Weasley family kitchen in "Harry Potter," but Eric, a senior in college majoring in business, hit the drawing board. Thinking he was on to something, Eric filled out a patent and sent the idea to "Invention Technologies, Inc" a company that develops and markets new inventions and is helping him build a prototype and license the product to manufacturers.
Eric, who is considering calling the invention "Autopot," plans to make pots and pans of different sizes and shapes, and hopes to put the device on the market very soon. Entrepreneurship isn't new to Eric. At the age of 18, while working for Century 21, he sold his first house, a home worth about $350,000. "The Realtors helped me out," said Eric, who found the experience "fun and interesting." Two years ago, Eric started a business with a high school friend selling T-shirts with printed designs. He also manages a small local hard rock band called "A Virus Conspires," and helps promote his older brother's record label, H2O Recordings. Ever since he was a child, he's enjoyed tinkering around with inventions, something he's picked up from his real estate agent father, a garage-inventor himself.
One thing he's learned over the years: With inventions, you have to be quick. When he and his dad invented an exercise device that attaches to a door, holding the user's feet in place to facilitate doing sit-ups, he soon found out that someone else had invented the gadget, which was being sold at Sears. Eric ended up buying one. And, in the early '90s, when his father came up with a shoe with built-in lights that flash, Eric said L.A. Gear beat him to the punch. "You gotta be fast and secretive," he said. Now he's waiting to find a manufacturer for his Autopot. The invention will help Eric whip up time-intensive dishes, such as one of his favorites, "cocido," a Mexican soup with chicken, carrots and potatoes. But the first pot, along with his first paycheck, will go to his mother, a loan agent who helped him out with a $10,000 loan. "This is hopefully my moneymaker," he said.