CHENNAI:
Param Jaggi, 22, exhaust muffler
While cities across the globe are choked by the exhaust fumes of fuel-driven vehicles, a young teenager decided to make a change through the most accessible way known to young inventors — Google. Indian-origin American Param Jaggi was inspired when he was 15 to design a device that seems like fantasy — it removes nearly 89% of carbon dioxide from a car’s exhaust! By putting it through a live colony of algae that sucks carbon dioxide from the exhaust, and releases remaining oxygen into the air, Param’s patent was approved in 2013 which he later went on to call Algae Mobile. Since then, not only has he been refining the muffler, but scooping up several environmental awards, as well as being featured on CNN’s The Next List.
Jack Andraka, 20, test for pancreatic cancer
In between other pursuits of a modern adolescent, Jack Andraka stands out for having invented a diagnostic test that can detect the presence of pancreatic cancer. Jack’s test, which is similar to diabetic test strips and measures the level of a suspected cancer biomarker (mesothelin), is claimed to be 168 times faster and manifold times less expensive. Early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer will be able to stop the growth of the disease which has a survival rate of 65%. Since he first came up with the test Jack has applied for a patent and is subsequently looking to develop it into an over-the-counter test. He was awarded the Gorden E Moore award in 2012 and is currently enrolled at Stanford University.
Ann Makosinski, 19, hollow flashlight
Here’s a flashlight that can be recharged through your own body heat! Canadian Ann Makosinski’s invention uses the thermoelectric effect to convert body heat into electricity to power an LED bulb — without requiring batteries! She created it with materials that were sourced for $26, and her prototype, developed in 2013, could run for 20 minutes. Ann said that she created the flashlight for a friend in the Phillipines who did not have light to study at night, and her product can provide over 6 lux of light for 60 minutes without body contact! She was named in TIME Magazine’s 30 under 30 list of achievers.
Olivia Hallisey, 17, low-cost rapid Ebola test
While the Ebola virus was sprung like wildfire across the African continent, it took a teen to roll up her sleeves and create a method of identifying potential carriers of the disease. Olivia, while still a junior in high school, created a low-cost effective test to diagnose patients, which propelled her to win the 2015 Google Science Fair prize. Her method, which required patients to sample their saliva on a special testing card with reagents which react with Ebola antigens, returned results in under 30 minutes and cost $25, compared to others that cost $1000 and took 12 hours. It also does not require refrigeration.
Boyan Slat, 22, the great ocean sweeper
It’s hard to find kids these days even concerned about their own garden, let alone a pile of floating plastic waste in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Tagged ‘The Great Pacific Garbage Patch’, this mass of junk and plastic refuse has been steadily growing and killing ocean life, and it would most definetly continue if it weren’t for Boyan Slat. The Dutch inventor is credited with creating the Ocean Cleanup, an organisation that uses floating barriers called sweepers to capture plastic debris, which has gained more traction since a TEDx talk of his (How the oceans can clean themselves?) went viral. The system involves a static platform that collects plastics as wind and ocean currents push them through 2000-metre booms, and the pilot program is proposed to be launched off Tsushima Island in Japan.