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Young inventors are leading now, not future leaders. <\/p>\n
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When you consider the challenges facing the world, the temptation to become depressed, apathetic, and cynical is great. These problems are so complicated, how can they possibly be solved? Who among us is daring enough to try? We need leaders who are unafraid to question the status quo.<\/p>\n
The good news is, a pathway for nurturing these leaders exists and is already growing nationwide \u2014 it\u2019s called invention education<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n \n ADVERTISEMENT<\/span> Invention education is different from other educational frameworks that support innovation, like STEM, because it puts the student in the proverbial driver\u2019s seat. Instead of being assigned a problem and instructed how to solve it, it\u2019s up to the student to identify a problem they want to design a solution for. As they research the problem of their choice and begin developing potential solutions, the student is asked to consider the experiences of others, which focuses their empathy. As part of their curriculum, students hone their ability to communicate their ideas clearly and convincingly.<\/p>\n If all invention education did was teach students how to be inventive, that would be significant. But its benefits extend far beyond inventions. Learning how to identify and solve problems is an antidote to powerlessness. It embeds within young people the notion that problems are worthy<\/em> of being solved and in fact can<\/em> be solved. It teaches them how to approach others for help, expanding their capacity to make progress in every arena of their lives.<\/p>\n The teenage inventors I\u2019ve had the privilege of interviewing are confident and highly capable. They\u2019re leading now, not future leaders.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a snapshot into their lives as young inventors.<\/p>\n \n ADVERTISEMENT<\/span> Samaira Mehta giving a talk.<\/p>\n <\/fbs-accordion>Samaira Mehta<\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Samaira Mehta is a 15-year-old entrepreneur and STEM advocate from the Bay Area who designed and commercialized her first product \u2014 a board game that teaches coding concepts to children \u2014 before middle school.<\/p>\n The game was a solution to a problem she faced as a 6-year-old, which was that her friends didn\u2019t think coding was fun or interesting. Could she convince them otherwise? Creating a physical game based on a digital process is unusual, Mehta points out.<\/p>\n \n ADVERTISEMENT<\/span> \u201cAs a child working in the space of innovation, one of the biggest advantages we have is that our brains are not confined to possibilities. We can think of stuff that may or may not be possible,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n She began thinking of herself as an inventor and a CEO when she realized she was creating a solution that was going to impact people. Today, she estimates that the three board games she\u2019s brought to market \u2014 all of which simplify complex concepts \u2014 have reached more than 25,000 students. Now her goal is to help one billion kids learn to code, because she believes it\u2019s an essential skill. To that end, she launched \u201cCoding As Easy As 1234<\/a>\u201d last year, an online program that uses game play to introduce AI and coding.<\/p>\n As of late, she\u2019s been applying her strengths as an innovator to the field of medical research. Her creation of a platform to aid in the diagnosis of ovarian cancer \u2014 which uses artificial intelligence and machine learning \u2014 won first place in the California state science fair in 2022.<\/p>\n \n ADVERTISEMENT<\/span> According to the Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance, while ovarian cancer is the 11th most common cancer among women, it is the fifth-leading cause of all cancer-related death among women. Mehta was inspired to focus on this issue after the loss of her science teacher\u2019s mother to ovarian cancer and her discovery that ovarian cancer has been overlooked among the medical community.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I saw a problem and that there was absolutely no good solution for it in the world today, I decided, well, what if I just create the solution?\u201d Mehta explains. \u201cSometimes, the best solutions may come from children and from teens and from our generation. So, we should be taught how to save our ideas and really call them our own.\u201d<\/p>\n Mehta encourages young inventors to start slow, build up momentum around their work, and then, when the timing is right, go big. She is currently working on a graphic novel for middle schoolers about a coding club with MIT Kids Press<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n ADVERTISEMENT<\/span> Student inventors Aum Dhruv & Nick Harty<\/p>\n <\/fbs-accordion>J. Lindsey Photography LTD<\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n As juniors enrolled in International Baccalaureate programs at Fort Myers High School in Florida and Harrison High School in New York, Aum Dhruv and Nick Harty co-invented Vision Bound, a low-cost tool for diagnosing diabetic retinopathy. Diabetic retinopathy affects over 90 million people worldwide and can cause blindness when left undiagnosed and untreated, which is often the case in low-income and middle-income countries.<\/p>\n They describe their fully functioning prototype as \u201ca solution to bridge the gap between preventable retinal diseases and technology.\u201d Their invention, which capitalized on earlier experiences with FIRST Robotics, evolved out of a desire to develop medical software for a point-of-care device. Fleshing out their initial concept required them to conduct original research using the algorithms of neural networks, cold email local ophthalmologists and a university researcher, and learn how to 3D print.<\/p>\n \n ADVERTISEMENT<\/span> Last year, they teamed up to compete and ultimately win a first-place prize in the annual Invention Convention competition held at The Henry Ford Museum in part because their skills complimented each other. Harty had developed a background in computer science through robotics competitions, STEM educators, and MIT\u2019s Scratch, whereas Dhruv has honed his interest in the sciences and business through HOSA and DECA. Their interest in STEM was sparked in middle school through competitions they thrived in, including math team and science fair.<\/p>\n Ultimately, Dhruv describes the experience of designing an entire research project by themselves, start to finish, as \u201clife-changing.\u201d They\u2019re both confident they want to continue developing their own ideas into businesses.<\/p>\n \u201cInventing is what we love,\u201d explained Dhruv simply.<\/p>\n Harty encourages teens who are interested in inventing to find a team of people they can work well with who have skills that are impactful towards the project they want to focus on.<\/p>\n \n ADVERTISEMENT<\/span> \u201cIf you want to make something but you don\u2019t know how to use CAD or 3D print, you need to reach out to someone,\u201d he said. \u201cTry to find a schoolmate or a teacher who knows how to use CAD.\u201d<\/p>\n Dhruv encourages young inventors to ask a lot of questions and be unafraid to approach adults.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you’re young, people don’t really judge you for making a mistake,\u201d Dhruv explained. \u201cAnd you need to make mistakes in order to learn and truly grow.\u201d<\/p>\n Inventing comes naturally to humans, stressed Britt Magneson during a Zoom interview. As the executive vice-president of the National Inventors Hall of Fame<\/a>, she oversees educational programs for youth that merge creativity and play with STEM concepts. Parents don\u2019t need to purchase a special kit or toy to spark the spirit of inventiveness within their children, because it already exists, she says. Instead, she recommends asking open-ended questions and providing a large volume of open-ended materials for children to experiment with as they explore the question, \u201cWhat if?\u201d These materials can be simple, everyday items.<\/p>\n \n ADVERTISEMENT<\/span> Juli Shively is a longtime invention education advocate who founded a quarterly, free 24-hour online event for young innovators to present their ideas in March of 2020. Since then, Global Innovation Field Trip<\/a> has provided students from more than 60 countries with a platform to connect, share, and collaborate \u2014 an experience she has dubbed \u201cworld learning.\u201d She describes her website, Innovation World, as a \u201cone-shop stop\u201d for resources related to the youth innovation space.<\/p>\n Juli Shively is the founder of the Global Innovation Field Trip, a free quarterly online 24-hour … [+]<\/span>Samaira Mehta<\/h2>\n
Aum Dhruv and Nick Harty<\/h2>\n
Ways To Help Young People Embrace Their Inner Inventor<\/h2>\n