Top five winners of Invent Your World 2009, a partnership between Ashoka's Youth Venture and the Lemelson Foundation to support young inventors and social change.

1. Invent Your World 2009
Ashoka Lemelson Award Winners

2. Invent Your World 2009
“What can you invent to make life easier,
the planet greener and the world better?”
That was the key question posed by
the 2009 Invent Your World Challenge -
a partnership between Ashoka’s Youth
Venture and the Lemelson Foundation.
Nearly 300 youth from 30 countries
answered the call with their own
invention ideas. Fifty invention
ventures are being launched. A panel
of judges met to pick the top five...

3. Ashoka Lemelson Awards
Excellence Award The VERSATILE System
$20,000 scholarship Javier Fernandez-Han, 15
Trip to global roundtable on Houston, TX, USA
climate change at MIT
Achievement Award AVANZA
$1,000 prize Pablo Alejandro Medrano, 23
Trip to global roundtable on Andrea Céspedes, 25
climate change at MIT Salta, Argentina
Dynamic Photovoltaics
Eden Full, 16
Calgary, AB, Canada
Handibot
Vincent Thiberville, 20
Champs sur Marne, France
Rainwater for Humanity
Carolyn Aker, 18
Providence, RI, USA

4. “An invention that is narrowly
focused on solving a single
problem often inadvertently
creates more problems because
nature is highly complex and
interconnected.“
Javier Fernandez-Han
Age 15
Houston, TX, USA

5. Invent Your World 2009
The VERSATILE System
At the tender age of 9, Javier Fernandez-Han found
his calling: design for the other 90 percent - help
the world’s poor meet their basic needs sustainably.
Several years of research and design have led to an
innovative solution: The VERSATILE System - a
mashup of new and existing technology that treats
waste, produces methane and bio-oil as fuel,
produces food for humans and livestock,
Javier Fernandez-Han, 15 sequesters greenhouse gases, and produces
Houston, TX, USA oxygen.
Learn More
What drives this complete energy resource system?
Algae - the little organism that could. Gone are the
days when algae are viewed only as “pond scum.”

6. “Every 30 seconds, there is an
amputation due to diabetes,
which translates to more than
one million amputations a year.
The good news is that 85% of
these amputations can be
prevented.“
Pablo Alejandro Medrano
Age 23
Salta, Argentina

7. Invent Your World 2009
AVANZA
Pablo Alejandro Medrano has seen the impact of
“diabetic foot” first hand. His own grandfather
suffered from diabetes, developed an infection on
his feet, and had to have both legs amputated.
This explains his passion for AVANZA, a venture
Pablo launched with Andrea Céspedes to make
disposable cellulose insoles for diabetics. They
Pablo Alejandro Medrano, 23 help users better oxygenate the feet, maintain
Jovita Andrea Céspedes, 25 better hygiene, and prevent infections that can lead
Salta, Argentina to amputation.
The insoles meet doctors’ recommendations for
feet care and are new to the Argentine market.

8. “What began as a simple personal
interest in solar energy turned
into something more meaningful
when I realized I could use my
passion for science to help
others improve energy
accessibility in
developing countries.“
Eden Full
Age 16
Calgary, AB, Canada

9. Invent Your World 2009
Dynamic Photovoltaics
Harvesting solar energy can be a costly
enterprise but Dynamic Photovoltaics is making
it more affordable - and efficient - by developing
the first cost-effective solar panel tracking
system capable of accurate movement.
That means the panels can follow the sun’s
movement throughout the day. More direct
exposure means better performance.
Eden Full, 16
Calgary, Canada Not only is the system easy to operate, it is also
made of commonly found affordable materials,
making it easy to maintain in developing
countries.

10. “By giving handicapped people
access to artistic creation,
we are hoping to create a
feeling of liberation.“
Vincent Thiberville
Age 20
Champs sur Marne, France

11. Invent Your World 2009
Handibot
Handibot’s mission is simple yet ambitious: create
robots that can help physically and mentally
challenged people express their creativity through
painting.
It started when a painter who acquired polyarthritis
asked Vincent Thiberville to create technology that
could help him paint despite his illness. Since then,
Vincent has developed seven prototypes to address
Vincent Thiberville, 20 different needs.
Champs sur Marne, France
Watch Video
The latest modification allows the used paint water
to be disposed of in an environmentally-friendly
way.

12. “As students in a country where
we can choose which type of
water to drink, we want to give
everyone access to what should
be a basic human right.“
Carolyn Aker
Age 18
Providence, RI, USA

13. Invent Your World 2009
Rainwater for Humanity
Rainwater for Humanity helps villagers of Kuttanad,
India harvest rain in order to conserve water,
empower women entrepreneurs, and boost
community health.
The team of Brown University students have
optimized the design of rainwater storage reservoirs
and catchment systems, ensuring that they are
simple, sustainable, and eco-friendly.
Using locally available materials, they construct
cisterns with 265 ft3 capacity and built-in
purification systems to capture rain from existing
rooftops. Each structure will provide a family with a
Carolyn Aker, 18 year’s worth of clean water, eliminating disease as
Providence, RI, USA well as save them the four hours a day that would
otherwise be spent gathering water.

14. For more information on Invent Your World
and this year’s invention ventures, please visit
www.genvcampaigns.org
To interview winners and other young inventors
please email info@genvcampaigns.org
Got an idea that can change the world?
Launch your own social venture!
Check out Ideas 2 Venture on GenVCampaigns.org