Kids can be incredibly creative and inventive – and some even see their big ideas develop into astounding business opportunities as well. The following ten children turned their frustrations, mistakes and strokes of luck and brilliance into commercial successes, businesses and even life-long careers. Their stories are sure to inspire anyone going into the business world, where ingenuity and imagination are often a bonus, if not a must. Kids came up with these great inventions, conceiving everything from earmuffs to Popsicles.
3. A note from me
I basically created this
for my Children but sharing
to benefit others!
When many of us were in our teens, work for
science fairs comprised cut and paste displays on
colorful presentation boards, and our hobbies
weren't exactly about to change the world.
But across the globe, teenagers with creative,
scientific minds are already devising
extraordinary devices, revolutionary materials
and renewable technologies that might just
change our planet for the greener.
4. Kids can be incredibly creative and inventive – and some even see
their big ideas develop into astounding business opportunities as well.
The following ten children turned their frustrations, mistakes and
strokes of luck and brilliance into commercial successes, businesses
and even life-long careers. Their stories are sure to inspire anyone
going into the business world, where ingenuity and imagination are
often a bonus, if not a must. Kids came up with these great inventions,
conceiving everything from earmuffs to Popsicles.
5. • The process of generating
biofuel by breaking down
plastics using a low-cost
catalyst was developed by a
sixteen-year-old Egyptian
student, Azza Abdel Hamid
Faiad, from the Zahran
Language School in Alexandria,
Egypt.
• Faiad won the European Fusion
Development Agreement award
at the 23rd European Union
Contest for Young Scientists
— involving 130 competitors
from 37 countries.
Source
6. • Eesha is the developer of a supercapacitor energy storage device, a
carbon fiber with different metal oxides—primarily titanium dioxide and
polyaniline—that uses nanotechnology to maximize the device’s surface
area. It charges mobile devices much faster than previous technology
has allowed, and has the ability to charge for many more cycles.
• Her innovation could be harnessed to charge more than cell phones and
tablets; down the line, it could potentially energize cars.
• In the meantime: “My goal is to have a supercapacitor charge a mobile
device in less than a minute.”
Source
8. 16 YO Teen Invents
Flashlight That is
Charged from Body
Heat
• Ann (Andini) Makosinski is a Canadian inventor and
entrepreneur. While still in high school, she created
the "Hollow Flashlight," which was recognized with
several awards
• Ann Makosinski, 18, won $50,000 from Shell this
month for her resolution to "reduce the impact on
the electrical grid by patenting body-heat-
generated power."
Source
Ann Makosinski
10. • 17-year-old Anya Pogharian’s high school science
project could end up changing the way dialysis care
is delivered
• After poring over online dialysis machine owner’s
manuals, she developed a new prototype using
simple technology.
• While machines currently cost about $30,000,
hers would cost just $500 — making it more
affordable for people to buy and have at home.
Source
12. Source
• In Silicon Valley, it's never
too early to become an
entrepreneur. Just ask 13-
year-old Shubham Banerjee.
• The California eighth-grader
has launched a company to
develop low-cost machines to
print Braille, the tactile
writing system for the
visually impaired. Tech giant
Intel Corp. recently invested
in his startup, Braigo Labs.
• Shubham came up with his
product as a school science
fair project last year after he
asked his parents a simple
question: How do blind people
read? 'Google it,' they told
him.
13. Kelvin Doe made his own radio
station only by using materials
found in the trash
Kelvin Doe, also known as DJ Focus, is a Sierra Leonean engineer. He is known for teaching
himself engineering at the age of 13 and building his own radio station in Sierra Leone,
where he plays music and broadcasts news under the name "DJ Focus”
Source
14. Four Nigerian teenage girls wowed visitors to the Maker Faire Africa with their pee-powered
energy generator. Able to source an impressive six hours of power from just one liter of
urine, the 14- and 15-year-olds renewable energy generator holds interesting possibilities for
providing electricity in remote areas or in disaster zones.
Nigerian Teens Create Pee-Powered Generator
Source
15. • It sounds more like something from a science
fiction movie than a potentially viable invention
from a teenage mind, but 19-year-old Egyptian
physicist Aisha Mustafa's Quantum Space
Propulsion System could send spacecraft into the
beyond without using a single drop of fuel.
Mustafa believes that the quantum effect can be
harnessed in space via the dynamic Casimir effect
and from that, energy can be created to produce a
net force that could push, pull or propel a
spacecraft.
• Sohag University has already aided Mustafa with
her patent application, and she has said she
intends to keep developing the system before it is
tested in outer space
Source
16. • As fruit, bananas are perfectly packaged – all the
protection they need is provided by their flexible,
resilient peels. As then-sixteen-year-old Turkish
student Elif Bilgin discovered, the starches and
cellulose contained in their outer layer can also be
used to create materials that insulate wires and
form medical protheses. Bilgin developed a chemical
process that turns the peels into a non-decaying
bioplastic that she hopes will help replace the need
for petroleum and combat pollution.
• Bilgin’s endeavors won her the top prize and
$50,000 at the Scientific American Science in
Action competition, as well as the honor of
becoming a finalist in the Google Science Fair
2013. Source
17.
18. The
Popsicle
In 1905, 11-year-old Frank
Epperson invented the Popsicle
completely by accident. Frank
left a cup of powdered soda,
water and a stirring stick outside
one cold night and awoke to find
a refreshing treat. Initially
dubbed the "Epsicle," he obtained
a patent in 1923 and sold the
rights to a large New York
company. Now available in 30
flavors, hundreds of thousands of
Epperson's Popsicles are eaten in
the U.S. each year.
Image via PresidentElectric.org Source
19. The
Trampoline
Using materials he found in
a junkyard, 16-year-old
gymnast and diver George
Nissen created the first
trampoline in 1930 by
stretching canvas over a
steel frame—perfecting it a
few years later with his
college gymnastics coach
Larry Griswold by using
nylon. Seventy years later,
trampolining was named an
Olympic sport and he was
alive to hear the news.
Source
Source
20. Ear
Muffs
Irked by how cold his ears
became while ice skating
outdoors in his native Maine,
15-year-old Chester
Greenwood asked his
grandmother to sew fur onto
a two-loop wire he'd made.
Shortly thereafter, in the
early 1870s, he obtained a
patent and made a final
model for the ear protectors.
On December 21, the state
of Maine still celebrates
"Chester Greenwood Day" to
celebrate its clever inventor.
Image via Online Sentinal
Source
Source
21. Sign
Language
Translator
After watching a translator
order fast food for a group
of deaf people in around
2002, 17-year-old Ryan
Patterson invented a glove
with special sensors that
translate the hand motions
of American Sign Language
into written words on a
digital display. The gadget can
also be customized to
recognize an individual's
signing style and now includes
audio features. Source
Source
Source
22. Braille
Louis Braille was just 3
years old in 1812 when he
was injured and lost his
vision. Later on, as a teen
studying at The National
Institute for Blind Youth in
Paris, he designed a system
using raised dots in specific
patterns to aid in reading.
The first Braille book was
released in 1829, and in
1837 Louis added symbols
for math and music. Braille
has since been adapted for
nearly every single language,
from Albanian to Zulu.
Source
Source
23. While most of the teenagers out there are busy enjoying their life to the fullest, a small
bunch of them are always putting their mind into overdrive for innovative solutions to
problems the world is plagued with. They don’t tinker around with fancy gadgets or upbeat
toys, rather they make gizmos that even a veteran would be proud of. These kids might look
innocent but what’s churning up in their mind is for all to see. And what’s important is that
they rejoice every moment invested in creating these game-changing innovations.