SAN FRANCISCO, April 14 -- A Silicon Valley firm has given an opportunity to 91-year-old Barbara Beskind, who has long dreamed of becoming an inventor and a designer.

"I've always been a very creative problem-solver," Ms. Beskind wrote in response to a questionnaire presented by media via IDEO, a global design firm based in Palo Alto, south of San Francisco, California.

"I'm not an engineer," she explained about her role. "But I've had to produce viable answers for meeting immediate needs of physically handicapped service men, women and their dependents throughout my 20-year (U.S.) Army career."

Given her frail health, Beskind has not been able to have direct interviews after the media frenzy took her by surprise.

Her story began at age 8, when she found her passion for designing gadgets and devices. "In high school, I wanted to be an inventor, as I found school pretty depressing. Girls were not accepted into collegiate engineering programs at the time, so I got a degree in home economics."

She then decided to work in the U.S. Army as an occupational therapist, which allowed her to blossom as a designer.

"I was designing to meet the needs of people who were paralyzed from stroke, war injuries, etc., to make daily living more comfortable and independent," she said. "I was designing every day, but in a different way."

Beskind applied for a position at IDEO nearly two years ago, after watching a TV report about the company. That appeared to be the right time, since IDEO had been exploring new ways to improve daily life for elderly citizens and was looking to work with seniors to improve certain designs.

"I revised my resume over a two-month period and included a cover letter to accurately express my interest. I sent it to IDEO by snail mail rather than email -- since I don't use email -- and my friends told me not to expect to hear anything for a month. A week later, however, I received a call from IDEO for an interview. I met with members of the team for four hours about how I might be able to fit in and contribute."

Beskind has a sharp mind, a fact that apparently was not overlooked at IDEO.

"At my age, I bring a perspective of having to deal with the changing demands that aging brings, including chronic disease, physical handicaps and traumatic falls," she said.

After a year, IDEO decided to have Beskind on board once a week, since many of her design ideas and input are highly appreciated by the staff. She is also working on her own designs, like an airbag for elderly people that would help minimize the damage in case of a fall, a common occurring among seniors.

IDEO, which designed the mouse for Apple Inc.'s first Macintosh desktop computer in the 1980s, is among some Silicon Valley companies that are changing the mindset about the age of their workforce and are beginning to see immense value in the insight and knowledge that can come with the years.

However, in Silicon Valley, the world's biggest tech hub, the adagio "out with the old, in with the new" is almost written in stone, with young minds constantly churning out new ideas and job vacancies often being filled with fresh-out-of-college workers, while older creatives are considered "washed up" when they are40.

Beskind seemed to be making sense for herself and for IDEO.