TISD Student Turns Inventor

TYLER – What started out as a class project has turned into an invention for a Robert E Lee Senior. At the start of the school year, Royland Black had an assignment in engineering senior class at the Tyler ISD Career and Technology Center. Students were to research, develop and test their own inventions. Black came up with TUFFTOE. It’s a product that would help reduce pain and injury caused by a player wearing cleats stepping on another player’s foot. After producing and refining his product, he conducted surveys and marketability studies. With the help of his teacher, DeAnna Molloy, he has now begun the patent process for TUFFTOE. Black plans to have a successful engineering career after college. He even turned down a football scholarship because the school did not have an engineering program. Black and his classmates will display all of their inventions during a Trades Fair scheduled in April at the Career and Technology Center.