Jock Brandis awarded prize for Full Belly Project

A Wilmington inventor just won $100,000 for his efforts to help people in third world countries.

Jock Brandis started the Full Belly Project. His organization designs and distributes agricultural devices made from available resources like oil barrels.

His claim to fame is his universal nut sheller that he introduced in the Philippines.

Millions of people in the world rely on peanuts as a primary source of protein. Most people can only hand shell 2 pounds of peanuts an hour, but this machine can do 110 pounds an hour.

Brandis was just awarded the “Purpose Prize,” given to folks who achieve great things over the age of sixty.

Brandis said, “It pays off my mortgage and fixes my teeth, but it’s the recognition that this really primitive machinery and the idea that we are helping the poor and billions in the world in simple ways that really mean a lot to them.”

Besides the nut sheller made from concrete and metal, Brandis also designed a resourceful $11 wheelchair made from an oil barrel to be used in third world countries.