Published On Tuesday, July 31, 2012 12:47 AM
Debbie Gross
YourJewishNews.com
A Jewish teen won the Google Science Fair, after creating a device that lets people that are hearing impaired enjoy music.
Jonah Kohn was trying to play a guitar for a friend in a noisy classroom. After not being able to hear himself well due to the noise, he put his teeth on the guitar and was able to hear the vibrations.
That sparked his idea for a science project that won top honors in the county and state science fairs. This week, it also earned him a scholarship of $25,000 in the Google Science Fair.
Photo credit: Jonah Kohn, a Jewish teen wins the Google Science Fair, after creating music device for the hearing impaired.
Jonah, 14, created a device that converts sound into tactile vibrations. It aims to help people with hearing loss enjoy a better music experience.
The San Diego, California teen, who will be a ninth-grader this fall at the San Diego Jewish Academy, was crowned on Monday as the winner of the 13 to 14 year student category, one of five winners of the contest. Thousands of participants from more than 100 countries were submitted for the contest, and 21 finalists presented their projects to a panel of judges at the Google headquarters in Mountain View, California.
“I was very surprised. I did not expect to win. It was unbelievable,” said Jonah, who was reached by cell phone as he and his father, Yariv, did some sightseeing Wednesday.
