The 3M Young Scientist Challenge is a nationwide competition for young scientists like Ishaan I. While all of his elementary school buddies were watching SpongeBob, Ishaan’s passion for science began.  

“My dad bought me my own hot glue gun when I was 6,” Ishaan I. said. Ishaan has loved scientific projects ever since he was a little kid and over time his passion has grown.

“From [my] childhood, I have had a passion for building stuff so I decided to join [the challenge]. Because why not give it a try, there’s nothing to lose so I entered.”

Little did Ishaan know that he would make it this far.

“I found out that I was one of the finalists and I was super super happy about this accomplishment,” Ishaan I. said.

When this event happened many people, including his mom, were excited for him. Ishaan made a device with an accompanying app for blind people to read braille. This unique device isn’t a typical Amazon order in prepackaged kit. 

“I was walking to one of my classes and I saw these dots [under the room number] and I was like ‘what is that?’”

At this time Ishaan decided to do research when he got home from school and this is all where his idea was sparked.

“Braille is really hard to learn due to a lot of reasons. There are not many people learning braille and it is a huge part of a blind person’s life. Mostly everything is [translated] to braille.”

This device will change many lives and can make their lives much easier. It is also very simple to use compared to other braille devices.

“The device connects to a phone via the app. Then, you send messages or voice messages through the app to the device, and the device will make it into braille.”

Ishaan’s device can affect people’s lives because they can send and receive messages even if they are blind.

“I just created the foundation. Now I can connect this to Twitter, Facebook, anything, and it will send the messages. So instead of having to see the message, now you can simply hear it.

This can open many doors for blind people around the world. Ishaan entered the competition right before summer break and found out he had made it to the finals of the 3M Young Scientist Challenge in the middle of March.

“[This] is a nationwide contest so I didn’t expect to make it at all.”

If he wins, what will be the next step for him?

“[If I win, I want to have] it mass-produced, and I will send it to all the blind centers across the USA, maybe worldwide because this device makes their lives easier. When something gets mass-produced it means hundreds of them will be produced to sell.”

Ishaan’s compassion is obvious, and his creativity and initiative offers him a bright future. The Howl is proud to call him one of Day Creek’s best and hopes you’ll give him your vote.