15 Year Old Engineer In Africa Awes MIT Scholars

Kelvin Doe, a young boy from the country Sierra Leone, also know as DJ Focus is born October 26, 1996. He is an African engineer. Kelvin has no prior education of engineering. The town which he lives in, in Sierra Leone doesn't have much. This is a city where the electricity only turns on once a week. Kelvin knowing the needs of his country, and wanting to make a difference, began teaching himself how to engineer at the age of 13. DJ Focus is his radio name that he created as a result of the radio station he made. On his station he plays music and broadcast news and the voice of his people. He is becoming an activist and a voice for the people and a getting the needs of the people heard. Some of his accomplishments was being a finalist in the GMin's Innovate Salone idea competition where he built a generator out of scrap metals. But his everyday accomplishments are more rewarding. By simply helping his people making batteries and generators and providing electricity when there is none. As a result of his accomplishments, he received an invitation to the US and subsequently became the youngest person to participate in the "Visiting Practitioner's Program" at MIT.  Kelvin's story went viral and his story was picked up by CNN, NBC News, and The Huffington Post. His story is supposed to be an inspiration to all. To get children in countries around the world solving problems, creating from nothing and solving the needs and wants of the people around them.  Benefits of Doe's exposure allowed him to speak at TEDxTeen, lecture to undergraduate engineering students at Harvard College, as well as in May 2013 Kelvin signed a $100,000 solar project pact with Canadian High Speed Service Provider Sierra WiFi. With great focus anything can happen and anything can be achieved. Kelvin Doe would never have been so accomplished if saw a need and waited for someone else to change it.. 

Arthur Ganson and the Rude Goldberg Tradition

        So after Arturo mentioned Arthur Ganson the other day I thought it would be fit to provide some of his work on the blog. To start off Ganson is one of the most highly regarded kinetic sculptures in the world. He has been on TED talks, an art-in-resdience at MIT and invited to many other conventions/exhibitions to show his work. His mechanical artwork has been seen all over the world and he has a unique style called Rude Goldberg (Ganson describes his work as "A cross between mechanical engineering and choreography"). Rude Goldberg was an American cartoonist, sculpture and inventor among other things and is Ganson's inspiration for his absurd yet brilliant creations. Researching a little more behind the topic and with an additional tip from Arturo I found that every year Ganson hosts a competition involving creating a Rude Goldberg chain reaction machine. To further breakdown what the machine contest consists of is basically college students from universities around the United States build a device/machine that completes a task with a minimum of twenty steps in the style of Rude Goldberg. For a little more insight the competition originated at Purdue University in 1949 as a match between two fraternities. Here is the 2012 Rude Goldberg Contest Winners...

 Here is one of Rude Goldberg's cartoons and inspirations for the competition and Ganson's work alike...

To give you an idea of Ganson's work and the intricate machines he creates...