A 19-year-old has thanked her grandfather for inspiring her to the Woman of the Future title.

And now Emily Cummins is to become an inspiration herself by telling how she successfully invented a solar powered refrigerator.

Emily, of Cross Hills, is being bombarded with invites from top conference organisers to be an inspirational speaker after being awarded the title Technology Woman of the Future on Thursday for her range of inventions.

She was today enjoying her success in London but said she was determined not to let it go to her head.

She said: "Lots of people gave me numbers to call, they wanted me to go and be an inspirational speaker at their conferences. It was all a bit too much to take in at the time but it was a huge compliment."

Emily impressed Cherie Blair at the awards ceremony in London which were judged by some of the country's most eminent women, including scientist Baroness Susan Greenfield and former BBC controller Lorraine Heggassey.

Emily puts her entrepreneurial skills down to 76-year-old grandfather Peter Harrison who inspired her to invent, and added: "He's really proud of me now."

The teenager, who went to South Craven School in Cross Hills, wants to focus on settling into her first year on a management studies course at Leeds University.

And she plans to balance out her study time, in between making speeches, with developing her fridge idea even more before it gets patented and mass-produced.

"There's still more work to do on it before it's finished. I want to find ways of making it more energy-efficient," said Emily who has teamed up with a creative partner Mark Champkins and the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA), which is supporting her.

She hopes NESTA will come up with funds to send her out to Africa in June for a stay when she will look out for new ideas on how communities there can become sustainable.

She said: "I want to help communities come up with ideas on how they can use what they've already got to hand to set up their own businesses and make money."

e-mail: kathie.griffiths @bradford.newsquest.co.uk