“An invention that is narrowlyfocused on solving a singleproblem often inadvertentlycreates more problems becausenature is highly complex andinterconnected.“

Javier Fernandez-Han

Age 15Houston, TX, USA

Javier Fernandez-Han

Houston, TX, USA

Recipient of 2009

Ashoka Lemelson Excellence Award

Ashoka and Lemelson Foundations’2009Invent Your WorldChallengeinspired hundreds of youth aroundthe world to submit inventionprojects that would “make life easier,the planet greener, and the world better.”Among them -Javier Fernandez-Han, a15-year-old Houston teen who answeredthe challenge with The VERSATILE System - a comprehensive algae-poweredsystem for treating waste, producingmethane and bio-oil as fuel, producingfood for humans and livestock, andsequestering greenhouse gases whileproducing oxygen.