Ashe's sound idea had its start in back of bus

The idea for an award-winning invention came to Ashe Cooper one afternoon at the back of the school bus.
The 16-year-old was heading home from Bay of Islands College in Kawakawa, watching schoolmates cupping their hands around their cellphones to amplify the music they were playing.
"I thought, there's a product for that" - and so the Sube, short for sound tube, was born.
The portable sound amplifier works with cellphones, landline phones, pagers, MP3 players with speakers or any  device that is made of acrylic plastic bent into a tube and produces external audio.
Sound from a device placed inside the tube - such as ringtones or music, which can be downloaded and played on a phone - resonates and is directed out via a slit, becoming  louder. Tests with a decibel meter found an 11 per cent increase in volume.
 This month,  Ashe and his student-run company MCNA took the Sube to a Young Enterprise Scheme trade fair in Kerikeri, where they beat schools from  Northland to take out the highly-contested innovation award.
Ashe said his team sold a dozen or so Subes at the fair at $10 a pop, and took orders for custom-made Subes for larger devices such as BlackBerry phones.
He has taken out a patent on his invention - which needs no batteries so is "good for the planet" - and is contacting bigger companies in a bid to sell the idea.
But will it make him rich?
"Definitely. It's a futuristic product. It looks simple but there's more than meets the eye."
The Year 12 student from Okiato, near Russell, said the Young Enterprise Scheme was new to the college this year.
"It's great. You're running a real company and you've got to be motivated ... The teachers are only there to supervise."
Schoolmate and fellow MCNA director Michael Hiko-Nodder, 16, said the scheme had taught her about running a business, how much work it involved and that working with friends wasn't always a good idea.
Technology teacher Fran Paul said students of Ashe's age were good at coming up with ideas for improving existing products - but inventing something totally new was rare.
"In fact, this is the first time in all my years of teaching," she said.
Business studies teacher Alvina Brown, who runs the Young Enterprise course at the college, said she was "really proud" of Ashe and his group.
"They've got a lot of initiative and drive," she said.
The other members of MCNA are Nerissa Kapa and Misty-Blue Ngere, both 16. Ashe's other company, FRYED Industries, won a prize for oral presentation. FRYED manufactures souvenir tea candles using matai wood.