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When Ronald Riley was a young boy, he had already begun a career in inventing. "When I was 11, I used to tow a trailer around and pick up people's old TVs and radios," he says. "I'd take them home and build new things out of them."

Riley is an inventor in Michigan. He says that this natural curiosity is necessary for inventors to come up with new ideas.

Since then, Riley has invented a wide range of products. He specializes in industrial controls, but has patents in a number of different areas. These include footwear, telecommunications and exercise equipment.

Riley says that inventors constantly need to come up with new ideas. For every 200 ideas he has for a new invention, only one will be good enough to take to a production level.

Riley says that he loves inventing because of the creativity and the variety in the work. However, once a product is ready to be patented and go into production, the work becomes more dull.

"The least enjoyable parts of the job for me are the business aspects," he says. "Obviously, an invention has to make money. But you have to understand the game if you want to earn a living at this."

Riley says the types of new products that can be invented are endless. "Inventions don't need to be real technical," he says. "Things like hair braids are good inventions."

All types of people are also involved in the inventing world. "People typically think of an individual working alone as an inventor," says Harry VanDyke, an inventor. "But engineers who work for companies are also inventors. Their inventions just aren't recognized as much and belong to the company rather than to themselves."

What do you think of when you hear the word inventor? Dr. Frankenstein worked in secret to create his monster. But in real life, not all inventors are eccentric oddballs tinkering in their basements.

"When you talk about inventions to kids, they almost always think of Einstein or some nerdish uncool character," says Sandy Kahn of the Women Inventors Project. "It just isn't true. We try to dispel the notion that only the brainiest student at school can go on to become an inventor."

Kahn says that the Women Inventors Project was started in the mid-'80s to help dispel notions that inventing was only for the pure academics -- and only for men. "At the time, when a woman walked into the bank and had a wonderful idea, she was laughed at," says Kahn.

Because women inventors weren't taken seriously, the group was formed. "Women are just as capable and we wanted to make sure they had equal opportunities."

Kahn says that the situation for women has improved, with women heading major corporations and being responsible for major inventions. The group has been able to shift their focus to help both men and women receive patents for their ideas.

But Kahn says that as late as the 1960s, inventing was not for women. "At that time, women weren't even allowed to hold a patent," she says. "It had to be in her father's or her brother's name."

Kahn says that this fact discouraged women. It is also one of the reasons that there are few historical role models for young female inventors.

"Many women inventors are lost in history," she says. A few women, such as Marie Curie, stand out as famous female researchers and inventors. But today, women continue to contribute. For example, Olivia Poole invented the Jolly Jumper, a suspended harness for children that is used in one in five households in North America.

Isabelle Budd invented a double-breast prosthesis (artificial body part) for women with breast cancer. The lightweight, easy-to-wear prosthesis is popular among breast cancer survivors.

Students thinking about a creation should go ahead and experiment. Even if the first attempt is a failure, successful inventors keep working at the problems.

"Kids should learn that there is no such thing as failure," says Kahn. "Failure is an opportunity to do it again, smarter."

Because inventing is such a long process, Kahn says that perseverance is a key character trait needed in inventors. "You have to keep going in the face of adversity," she says.

She also says that young inventors shouldn't listen to people who discourage them from trying new ideas. "You need to go to those creative off-the-wall places to get an idea," she says. "You should never say that something won't work. If you see an obstacle, you work your way around it. For inventors, the answer to one plus one really can be three."