Clambering up a 300-foot tower, David Rodriguez once again had to estimate the correct size of tool needed to remove the nut. Lugging around all his heavy tools was becoming a hassle and he intuitively knew there was a better way to get his work done.
Identifying the problem, Rodriguez worked diligently for six years to finalize his solution. Finding his way through the maze of obtaining his patent was a bit of challenge, but the effort was worth the wait. David’s little invention – the EZ Gauge-Refinery – is an ingenious tool which can be used to measure the size of nuts, bolts, and drift pins in the oil industry. With a little adjustment, he created the ideal tool for any industry – the EZ Gauge-Mechanic. For this, the McAllen Chamber named him one of their 2017 Innovation Grant winners.
“When I was little, my parents were never strict and I stayed up to three or four in the morning,” Rodriguez, inventor, said. “I’d see the commercials asking, ‘Are you an inventor?’ Watching those commercials triggered everything. I knew I could invent something. I’ve invented so many things I never realized I could get a patent on. Now I know better.”
Another innovative creation he developed is something every student should have – a ruler. His Easy Learn Color Coded Ruler has four methods of reading it, from beginner to advanced. A product so unique, yet simplistic, the ruler took insight and imagination to create.
“My 9 and 10-year-old neighbors walked into my house not knowing how to use a ruler,” Rodriguez declared. “Fifteen minutes later they walked out of my house knowing how to use it. What the teachers can’t do in school, I did it with this color-coded ruler.”
With the soul of an inventor, Rodriguez has used the McAllen Chamber’s Inventors and Entrepreneurs Network, to learn how to grow his products in the marketplace.
David Rodriguez, a man with his mind in the clouds and his feet firmly planted on the ground.