Why its important for young people to innovate and how to get started

[Music]

the covid19 pandemic started last year

and infected

millions i saw the direct impact on my

community

especially my high risk and vulnerable

neighbors

it motivated me to do my part to slow

the spread of this covid19 pandemic

and save lives introducing six feet

apart

a wearable social distancing device to

simplify

and quantify social distancing i built

this device embedded in a hat

using the latest developments in

ultrasonic technology

infrared imaging and artificial

intelligence to ensure the user would

maintain

safe social distance according to the

cdc’s guidelines

here’s a quick look at how six feet

apart works

the hat sends short pulses of ultrasonic

waves out into the environment

so when a person comes within the 6-foot

detection range these waves refract

back into the sensor of the device and

the user receives

live haptic and acoustic feedback to

alert them that they’re in the range of

unsafe social distancing

these alerts also go out via bluetooth

on the six feet apart

mobile app that i coded myself if you

don’t want to wear a hat i also embedded

the same technology

into an armband for on-the-go safety and

a lanyard for students and professionals

covet 19 is a challenge unique to this

time

but i don’t believe it will be the last

we will encounter other unfamiliar

challenges

and my generation must be a part of

creating solutions for them

many of my peers however don’t believe

they have the ability to build

meaningful solutions

but i think they can after all the

greatest innovators are just like you

and i the difference is they’ve

channeled their focus

to accomplish extraordinary things what

we need is a roadmap or a framework to

innovate

throughout my innovation journey i’ve

used a simple three-step process

for all my inventions and devices and i

believe that anyone can use this as

their framework

the three steps are identify innovate

and impact the first step identify

is all about understanding the problem

choose a problem that you’re most

passionate about solving

personally i look for problems that have

a large scope

where a solution will impact as many

people as possible

but is also feasible for me to solve i

work

to truly understand the problem by

stepping into the shoes of the people

experiencing it

using the mental model of first

principles thinking

to ask why over and over again until i

can’t ask

why anymore it’s impossible to solve

every branch of a problem

so we must break it down into smaller

solvable chunks to address it

in building six feet apart i looked for

the root causes

of the rapid spread of the covid19

pandemic

and dove deeper into the aspect of

person-to-person transmission

if we break down a problem like covet 19

into its sub-problems

we can begin analyzing the root causes

and creating

lasting and impactful solutions we can

see that the spread of covid19

is not a root problem in itself it’s an

outcome

i’m also really passionate about

researching to build up an understanding

of a topic

starting with simple videos and

increasing in complexity

to research papers and speaking with

industry experts

but most of all you don’t have to be an

expert in a field to innovate

you only need enough knowledge to build

your innovation

and continue learning along the way the

second step

innovate is perhaps the most important

step of them all

innovation is an iterative process and

going back to the drawing board

is all part of the learning it’s normal

to get really excited

about working with a cool technology or

technique but we should only use methods

that actually address

a problem instead of looking for ways to

apply a technology like ai

i learned to first solve a problem

regardless of what technology is used

once you’ve picked your initial approach

build it test it

get feedback on it and go back to the

drawing board to reiterate

and improve your solution by deploying

your solutions out into the real world

you can begin to impact lives today

the last step impact is all about

spreading awareness

and sharing your work because the

exposure enables you to find future

mentors

collaborators and organizations to work

with

mentorship has always been a huge

catalyst for my innovation journey

my mentors inspire me to solve big

problems

and constantly give me opportunities to

grow

to all the adults out there i challenge

you pass on your wisdom

who knows the next person for whom you

open a door

might go on to be a future innovator for

the past couple of years i’ve been

running innovation workshops with

museums

schools and companies to raise awareness

of stem

and youth and build the next generation

of problem solvers and innovators

through my global virtual

and in-person outreach i’ve directly

impacted over 22

000 students and industry leaders

this process has worked for me and i’ve

created over

five different inventions using it

including mobileme

a device and app to prevent mobility

loss and falls in the elderly

using artificial intelligence and

predictive analytics

and i’m working on a couple of new

innovations to diagnose

diseases at an early stage using the

latest developments in biomarkers

i am just a teenager but by using this

process

i’m able to create so many different

solutions to real world

problems some of my innovations have

gained recognition

from the nasdaq new york times abc

and more and i share this to highlight

just

how much society values young innovators

our generation is just beginning to

embrace

innovation gen z already knows what

problems to care about

but they just don’t know how to channel

their passion into tangible solutions

we need to empower all youth to get

involved with innovation

what we need is an all hands on deck

approach

to solving not just covet 19 but also

climate change

threats to cyber security and to human

rights

even as these and many other challenges

may seem insurmountable my generation

also has access to so many new

tools and technologies like artificial

intelligence

3d printing virtual reality blockchain

and more

we need to expose kids to stem

at an early age so that society can gain

innovators and problem solvers working

towards the same

common goal together we can create a

rich

innovation ecosystem to foster ingenuity

and problem solving

now more than ever we have the power to

harness cutting-edge science and

technology

to create positive change in our

communities

with more people involved in the

innovation process the more problems we

can solve

and the faster we’ll be able to do it

having the innovation ecosystem

is the biggest thing we can do and youth

are such a critical part of that

ecosystem

we need youth alongside adults and

organizations

solving problems creating change and

innovating

to create that better world for all of

to everyone in my generation i challenge

you

find a real world problem that you’re

passionate about

and get involved today put your passion

and creativity towards solving these

problems

get started now with frameworks like my

three-step

process to guide you and use whatever

tools you can access

just start somewhere take that first

step

and the journey will be so rewarding