Now that's a bright girl!

When Ann Makosinski found out that her friend in the Philippines was having trouble in school because she had insufficient light in the evening, she set her mind to the task and didn't just find a solution, but invented it.

16-year-old Ann designed a "hollow flashlight", as she has dubbed it, which transforms the heat emanated from a hand into a source of energy.

"I'm really interested in harvesting energy[...]that surrounds but we never really use," Ann said.

The flashlight is made with Peltier tiles--a device that produces energy when once side is heated while the other cools. The duration of the light is about 20 minutes.

Ann is one of 15 students headed to the Google Science Fair finals in September. The winner of the fair will take home a $50,000  scholarship and a trip to the Galapagos Islands.

This bright girl's interest in engineering was spotted early on by her parents. They didn't just let her but encouraged her to take apart her toys and tinker with them.

Good luck at the Google Science Fair, Ann!