AMS Vans Sponsors Young Inventor

posted on Aug 04 by Amelia in the AMS News, Disability News, Technology, Wheelchair Accessibility, Wheelchair Technology category

Mohanad Mekky is anything but a usual 18 year old boy. While others are concerned about school dances and the latest fashions, Mohanad spends his time in a lab inventing new and cutting edge technology for the world to use. Born and raised in Eygpt, Mohanad showed interest in electronics and engineering early in the fifth grade. His father, his biggest supporter from the beginning, saw his passion for the field and enrolled him in private classes to nurture his love of the field. His knowledge grew and he skipped over middle school science classes and quickly moved to attend classes at the University of Alexandria’s College of Faculty of Engineering in Egypt on the governor’s recommendation and began to independently invent in 2006. With his inventions growing more and more note worthy, he is slowly but surely gaining notoriety in the United States as a commendable inventor.

“Sometimes when I hold a tool; I feel like it’s a part of my hand and I feel like I can handle anything” he said in a recent interview. With that passion on board he came to the United States about a year ago pursuing an American college education. Unfortunately, lack of English and American History credits forced him to make a brief pit stop at high school, American style. New Dorp High School accommodated Mohanad’s gift by meeting his two demands of “tools and a place to work” through giving him his very own private lab to do his work. Mohanad says it’s nothing to spend upwards of 12 hours a day in his lab creating new and exciting things “Sometimes I can’t sleep, especially if I have a new idea”.

His fame reached an all time high when he won first place at the New York Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in March 2010. There, he featured a project called “Let All Control”, a hands-free computer. The invention features a headpiece worn by the user that allows him or her to control the mouse with head movements and eye winks. The project was inspired by a friend back in Egypt that was unable to participate in chats on Facebook due to a birth defect that affected his hand movement. “I thought about all the people in the world with the same problem, so I created this simple device that doesn’t work in a harmful way and is very cheap” Mohanad candidly explains.

Mohanad’s current project is going to expound on that technology.  After putting a plea for sponsorship online, AMS Vans answered the call to fund his current project. We’ll follow his story as he works on his latest wheelchair project.

AMS Vans is proud to support Mohanad with breaking new ground in assistive technology. He is currently residing in Oakland, NY with an aunt waiting to hear back from universities offering scholarships. When not working on the chair, he plays piano and guitar and wants to learn the violin.

Watch Mohanad Mekky in the video below: