Draft:Ayla Hutchinson

• Comment: Instead, incorporate your citations using WP:Inline citations. See WP:REFB for more help. Bobby Cohn (talk) 18:46, 22 November 2024 (UTC)

---

Ayla Hutchinson

Overview

Ayla Hutchinson, a Taranaki, New Zealand native who is now 25 years old, invented the Kindling Cracker when she was just 13. She enjoys hobbies such as photography, sculpture, hanging out with friends and family, and being out in nature. Ayla comes from a long line of inventors and entrepreneurs, so her family always encouraged her to be broad-minded and nonconformist. After witnessing her mom injure her hand while using a hatchet to split kindling, she realized there was a problem to be solved; this event with her mom showed Ayla that preparing firewood was dangerous, and inspired her to invent a safer manner of doing so. The Kindling Cracker is a cast-iron "safety cage" that allows people to split kindling safely by holding a log above a built-in ax blade. This design minimizes the risk of injuries and is particularly useful for individuals with limited physical strength, arthritis, or other disabilities, enabling them to handle kindling independently.

Life

Ayla Hutchinson lives with dyspraxia, a neurodevelopmental disorder that makes it difficult to perform motor skills, which she credits with helping her in her successful Kindling Cracker business. As a result of living with this condition, Ayla was encouraged to develop alternative ways of approaching challenges, which similarly influenced approach to problem-solving and innovation is characterized by careful consideration and thorough research.

Intellectual Property

Thanks to her fathers experience with the intellectual property system, Ayla understood the importance of ensuring the Kindling Cracker remained protected. She employed several strategies for the Kindling Cracker; she applied for a patent with the New Zealand Intellectual Property Office, which she was awarded in 2016, as well as filing an international patent application under the Patent Cooperation Treaty in 2013. By implementing these strategies, Ayla successfully built a comprehensive intellectual property portfolio to protect her invention and brand across multiple international markets, ensuring the long-term success and exclusivity of the Kindling Cracker.

Achievements

Over the years since Ayla Hutchinson debuted her invention to the world, she has been recognized and praised for her achievements. Ayla's accomplishments include winning the New Zealand Fieldays "Young Inventor of the Year Award" in 2013, becoming a regional finalist in Google's International Google Science Fair in 2014, signing a deal with a top US tool distributor in 2015, and selling hundreds of thousands of Kindling Cracker units worldwide.

Current Impact

While there is no information providing specific data for the Kindling Cracker's current sales and success, according to their website, the Kindling Cracker does continue to be a popular choice for safely preparing firewood today. In 2015, Ayla signed a major distribution deal with Northern Tool and Equipment, a leading American tool company, to sell the Kindling Cracker in over 90 outlets across the United States. Hundreds of thousands of units have been sold worldwide, including in Canada, Japan, the United States, and throughout Europe. Although there are no online statistics past 2019, these past successes suggest that Ayla's invention has had, and will continue to have, a lasting societal impact by promoting safety in a common task while supporting accessibility for people with varying physical abilities.