Edmonton mother, daughter show fence they created to stop catalytic converter thefts

Local duo shows off catalytic theft device An Edmonton mother-daughter team is showing off their catalytic converter theft prevention device. David Ewasuk reports.

They've already won an international competition by setting the bar just as low as the thieves.

There’s no getting around it: Mavis Shaw and her daughter Tamara Dolinsky have come up with an idea that officials believe just might put a stop to people chopping out catalytic converters from under vehicles to sell the emission devices for their precious metal content.

The device is called the FoilemFence, and the duo couldn’t show it off when they won first place in the Edmonton Police Foundation’s $50,000 Catalytic Converter Challenge back in January. But officials were clearly blown away by what the two women had come up with.

"When we saw it, we thought, 'Wow, this is innovative, so creative.' We never thought about it," said Ashif Mawji, chair of the Edmonton Police Foundation, at the cheque presentation.

But now that the FoilemFence has its patent pending, the mother and daughter invention duo are willing to show it off and explain how it came to be. Dolinsky’s car was targeted for its catalytic converter last summer, and within days she and her mother were brainstorming.

“It was completed a couple of days, literally a couple of days, after I got my car back,” Dolinsky said.

HOW IT WORKS

It was her mother who came up with the final design after the two women went off in separate rooms to give each other space to come up with ideas. The words of the insurance adjuster were in their heads.

“He said, 'You can expect that it will be stolen again in two to three months,' and so that got us thinking, what can we do to prevent this from happening again?” Shaw said.

Her idea is simple, but only once you see it.

It’s three segments of double-height rebar that link together for each side of the car. The end pieces have flat metal plates welded to them as well. And once you slide it all into place in front of your tires, you simply drive onto the plates, and the weight of your vehicle holds the FoilemFence in place.

“We had somebody time us. We actually thought it would take five minutes, but actually it takes about a minute a side to put it up and a minute per side to take it down and put it in your car,” Dolinsky said.

'IT WAS AMAZING'

The duo still can’t believe the idea they designed for their specific problem won out over hundreds of entries.

“We had no idea until we went to the news conference that there were applications from literally all over the world. It was amazing," Dolinsky said.

And while there’s still much testing to be done, they are taking it one step at a time trying not to become overwhelmed by their newfound status as inventors.

They’re proud the device might help others and even prouder that they made something that actually looks as strong as it is.

“We were looking for something that was a visual deterrent, so that people would see it right away, and of course a physical deterrent,” Shaw said.

Now, they’re looking at making enough of them to have others test the device as well, all part of their steep learning curve and eventual plan to bring the FoilemFence to market.

And just maybe, put catalytic converter thieves out of business.