Meet a Tar Heel: Alexis Lewis

From a wheeled travois designed to transport injured people in rural Africa to a compact breathing mask that can be tossed to somebody trapped in a burning building, the inventions of incoming transfer student Alexis Lewis have already made an impact on people’s lives.

With the mentorship and resources now available to her at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, she is looking to develop the tools she needs to make an even more significant difference in the future.

“A number of my inventions have been related to life-saving applications,” said Lewis, who obtained her first patent when she was just 15-years-old. “I think it’s important to try to put a portion of one’s time and effort into making the world around you a better place.”

Lewis has a variety of interests ranging from nanotechnology to entrepreneurship, and Carolina, she said, offers the opportunity to take deeper dives into the topics.

“Pick a field — you name it — there’s probably somebody doing it at UNC,” Lewis said.

But Lewis is focused on more than just the creations on her lab bench. She has also become a vocal advocate for K-12 invention education to encourage younger people to get involved in creating and innovating.

“I’m just looking to do something that actually matters in the end,” she said.