This 15-year-old wanted to keep his grandfather safe. What he came up with could help millions.

Headshot of Kenneth Shinozuka, Google Science Fair participant
Scientific American

Science fairs are where young minds break molds and push new ideas out into the world. Kenneth Shinozuka from New York landed a finalist’s place in one of the biggest — Google Science Fair 2014 —  with an innovation that has the potential to protect people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease by alerting caretakers when they leave their beds. Read the story at Business Insider.

Shinozuka isn’t the only teenager balancing secondary school with science-fair innovation.

President Obama congratulates Naomi Shah and other Google Science Fair winners in Oval Office.
President Obama congratulates Naomi Shah (left) and other Google Science Fair winners at the White House. (White House)

Naomi Shah developed a biofilter to be used with heating and air-conditioning systems that improves the air for asthma sufferers. Her innovation won the very first Google Global Science Fair award in the age 15–16 category.

At 17, Param Jaggi came up with a system that turns carbon dioxide from a car’s tailpipe into water and oxygen by using algae. He won the Environmental Protection Agency’s Sustainability Award at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair and was cited by Forbes magazine as one of 30 under 30 rising stars in the energy sector.

Since 2010, another science fair has turned a spotlight on the importance of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education. The White House Science Fair is hosted yearly by President Obama. In 2014, the event highlighted the work of girls in science.