12-year-old Scottish named to Time’s Girls of the Year list for solar-powered backpack invention

Young developed the idea at age 11 during a club challenge at Kelvinside Academy to create something that could help people, according to the Scotsman. She said the freezing winter nights in the city, when temperatures can drop to 17 degrees Fahrenheit (-8 degrees Celsius), inspired her invention.

The backpack, which uses solar power to charge an electric blanket, won a U.K. engineering award earlier this year. Thirty of the blankets have already been manufactured and distributed to a homeless shelter in Glasgow, with more expected. "I’m very proud," her mother Louise told Time magazine.

Young described the recognition as "cool and very unexpected," adding: "I'm honored by the fact they wanted to include me on their Girls of the Year list and hope other kids see it and decide to do their part in helping people."

Rebecca Young, 12, from Glassgow, Scotland. Photo from Facebook

Young said the project showed her how engineering can be applied to real-world challenges. "It helped me see a different aspect of engineering, and how it could actually help people. That definitely helped inspire me," she said.

Alongside Young, eight of the other honorees appear on a special animated Time cover in collaboration with Lego, reimagined as minifigures to represent their achievements.

Time’s initiative highlights 10 girls aged 12 to 17 worldwide who are "shaping their communities with courage and purpose," chief executive Jessica Sibley said.

The collaboration followed a Lego Group survey of more than 32,000 parents and children in 21 countries, which found that 70% of young women struggle to see themselves as skilled builders.