By paNOW

Prince Albert inventor sparking national attention

Dec 23, 2013 | 2:30 AM

A former Carlton Comprehensive High School student, William Topping, is the co-inventor of a magnetic power plug that could change the way people connect to an outlet.

The Magno-Plug is essentially an extension cord attachment that connects an outlet using magnets. The invention will be of huge help for anyone who has ever driven off, while still plugged in. The magnets disconnect and the cord isn’t yanked out.

“He was quite an innovative boy, always kind of curious about things, and if all of a sudden he was too quiet, you knew that he was up to something,” said Gordon Topping, William’s father.

Topping recalled one incident when William was young, and he tore off the keys to computer keyboard.

“I was kind of surprised by the invention. He got eager with it from day one. We were kinda holding our breath. When he got going on this, he was going into his final exams in his fourth year. We kept trying to tell him this is a great idea but remember you have exams,” said Topping.

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Ingenuity runs in the family. William Topping’s uncle is a civil engineer.

William and co-inventor Arash Janfada, are now in the process of spreading the word about their creation. So far, they have had a great response, and there are some people who suggest the pair would should appear on a well-known TV program.

“Dragon’s Den but has been brought up literally hourly to us; but the problem with Dragon’s Den is that they take a such large cut from the company and we are trying to keep at least most of the ownership.”

That being said Topping said he would consider other partnerships.

“Ideally, I would love to make this my job, like I was in Ottawa working for a year and a half, and that was okay but right now I like working with my hands. I love making products and designing stuff. Ideally I wold love to make a Magno-Plug Incorporated, have an office and be one of those R&D guys, always coming up with new and innovative things and solving problems,” said Topping.

People can now actually place a pre-order for the Magno-Plug on their Kickstarter.com page.

Topping said his goal would be go into production by next fall.

nmaxwell@panow.com

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell