Next time it starts to rain and you reach for your folding umbrella spare a thought for Slawa Duldig. She was the Viennese sculptress who invented and patented the device back in 1929 and it’s been keeping people dry ever since. But the birth of this, like so many innovations, was not in the research labs of a large company but as a result of her frustration with the large heavy and clumsy umbrellas of her time. Along with many user innovators her concern to solve an annoying problem led her to create a solution from which many more of us can benefit.