COLUMBUS, Ohio — Soham Joshi’s journey with the Invention League began in sixth grade.

What You Need To Know

  • More than 4,500 students took part last year in the statewide event

  • Top winners from 2020 earned a $2,500 college savings award
  • Legislators are expected to recognize kid inventors through commendations, resolutions and citations

Now, the 16-year-old Columbus Academy Junior has outdone himself. He has invented a robotic glove designed to help those who are hearing or visually impaired learn sign language.

“We used approximately 34 servo motors that move the hand, the elbow in different ways. They familiarize themselves with sign language and moving on they'll start to learn smaller words, commonly used words and they move on to more difficult things,” Joshi said.

Joshi said he hopes to get a patent on the invention so he can help as many people as possible.

He hopes to pursue entrepreneurship in college.

For 16-year-old Halina Tri-Leanza, a junior at North Royalton high school, her invention, the sensory pencil, was born out of a personal experience.

Her fidget spinner helps students with ADHD and anxiety focus in test-taking environments.

“I personally have anxiety that's related to school. And I've always been around mental health because both my parents work in it. Basically, it has different sections, and all of them have different objectives. So, there are rough sections and then there are also sections where you can pull or twist,” Try-Leanza said.

Throughout the week, students across the state will showcase their latest inventions virtually, commencing with the National Kid Inventors Day on Sunday.

The Ohio Invention League has been around for 27 years.

The young inventors are taking full advantage of the STEM skills they've learned in school and building critical experience moving forward.

“They're building the stem skills, and now they are able to apply for some of those academic and stem-based scholarships. And I think that's an important part of this too, they're building that experience,” said Ohio Invention League Programming Director Abby Fisher.

The top winners from 2020 earned a $2,500 college savings award and will take part in the US Nationals online competition this spring.

For more information, visit the Ohio Invention League Invention Convention website.