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Jun 20, 2009

"An invention that is narrowly focused on solving a single problem often inadvertently creates more problems because nature is highly complex and interconnected." --Javier Fernandez-Han, Age 15

15-year-old Social Entrepreneur-Inventor

At the tender age of 9, Javier Fernandez-Han found his calling: inventing to help the world's poor meet their basic needs sustainably. Several years of research and design have led to an innovative solution: The VERSATILE System -- a mashup of new and adapted technology -- is driven by Algae, the little organism that could. For his work, Javier, 15, won the top prize in this year's Invent Your World Challenge. Change.org spoke to Javier about the VERSATILE System and the need for holistic thinking in the invention sector: "By interconnecting the 12 technologies in the 6 subsystems the VERSATILE system provides a complete solution in a practically waste free manner. ... A single invention rarely solves an entire problem. Often we only see a small part of a larger problem without seeing the connections between the many parts."