Have you ever done something so miniscule that you were really proud of you wanted to show it off to other people? Ahmed did but his innovation was not miniscule, it was a clock made from scratch. He has always been innovating from a very young age. He built a clock and took it to school to show his engineering teacher. His teacher advised him not to show it to other teachers as it would cause problems. Why a clock would bring problems to him was something he hadn’t thought of.
The clock really worked as it showed time and had an alarm. The alarm is what sold him out as it rang during one of the classes and that is when the teacher asked to see it. . A few minutes later he was in police handcuffs because he allegedly created a hoax bomb. The crazy thing is that the teacher thought it is a bomb but instead of calling the bomb squad the police were called instead. What would a normal police done if it was a bomb?
Ahmed is from Sudan. His family emigrated from Sudan because of the chaos and set shop in Irving, Texas. Most people claim that if he did not bear an Islam name none of these events would have occurred. He was served a three day suspension from school despite his charges being dropped. On the bright side, he got invites from the White House, Facebook, and Google science fair to go show them his clock.
Ahmed Mohamed is now one of the most-talked-about people in the tech world: http://t.co/grswmyRMEo #IStandWithAhmed pic.twitter.com/UxxBeeL716
— Forbes (@Forbes) September 16, 2015
He has been innovating even when he was in middle school. His father says that he mends most of the things in the house for example the radio and his father’s phone. He sometimes made money in middle school because of his inventions. So he went to high school and he continued innovating. He says he wants to be an inventor and attend MIT. MIT has also called him to visit the school and this makes him happier than the invitation to the White House.
The world is like it is because of innovation. The curiosity of every inventor helped us create something that solved the problems we had. Now that most things have already been innovated, most inventors are now just improving on the existing ideas.
If we shun young people who are innovating then what will our future look like? Children are the next generation and they will have problems unique to them at that time and they will not be solved by the current inventions. This is the reason for some platforms by Kidz Go Tech by Safaricom and workshops by startups like Akirachix that pick that curiosity.
The authorities claimed that it had too many wires and hence it really looked like a bomb. Have they ever opened a computer, a radio a television set and see how much circuitry goes on in there? Actions like these are what stop children from innovating as they think their inventions would put them in trouble.
Innovators should be mentored and supported by society. They should be encouraged to come up with more inventions. Innovation is not racially, tribal or regional based, an inventor can come up from anywhere. What matters is the idea and execution.
