By William Weston
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Saturday’s plenary was an excellent introduction to the inaugural SDG Sandbox event which followed. 130+ participants were joined by student and social innovator Hannah Herbst and the themes demonstrated in her presentation coincided appropriately with the 75th anniversary of the United Nations, after the UN charter came into effect on the 24th October 1945. Hannah’s presentation highlighted the importance of problem solving and collaboration, two skills she has become exceptional at through the development of her project, BEACON (Bringing Energy Access to Countries through Ocean energy), and told her story from being a 7th Grader who was unenthusiastic about science to making it onto the 2018 Forbes 30 Under 30 list.
Hannah’s science journey began when, much to her disapproval at the time, her father told her she was going to take part in an engineering camp. When she arrived, she realized that she was the only female participant and wanted to go straight home. However, after a while, she began to enjoy the activity set of coding small robots to perform actions like moving in different directions. This led to her joining science and research clubs at her middle school and whilst she wasn’t necessarily the best at this new field, she told all the plenary participants that “you shouldn’t be afraid to be bad at something new”, a quote that stuck throughout for the entire presentation.
Growing up in Florida, a state surrounded by water on three sides, it is not a surprise that Hannah looked to the ocean in order to find a solution to a problem that had become apparent to her. Whilst in conversation with her pen pal, Ruth, Hannah found out that she did not have access to electricity. This led her to develop her first prototype of BEACON out of cardboard, which she highlighted did not do very well in the water. She then created a contraption out of recycled plastic bottles and spoons that harvested the ocean’s energy and converted it into electricity. This innovative idea is what won Hannah the title of America’s Top Young Scientist in 2015.
Unfortunately, following the success of the BEACON project, Hannah’s father was diagnosed with cancer. Understandably, this led to her losing motivation in her science projects, however, one quote inspired Hannah to search for a solution, “the worst thing you can do is see a problem you can solve, and do nothing about it.” Hannah looked to the antibacterial properties in shark skin to create a bandage using the same properties. This has been incredibly successful, and Hannah is now planning to launch a business based on this technology, with the plan to deliver the technology for free to less developed countries.
Following Hannah’s recount of her inspiring journey, she gave some tips for participants looking to make change in their communities. Firstly, we should never stop asking questions, as it is through questions that we can find answers that guide us in the right direction to make our ideas a reality. Secondly, we should embrace failure because through failure we learn how to improve. Finally, she told participants to learn from others. She found it particularly helpful to have been able to be surrounded by mentors who believed in her projects and wanted to help her make them successful. She referenced the “beauty of collaboration” and the “art of failure”, two aspects which are critical to bringing our projects to life. She also highlighted that we shouldn’t allow barriers to get in the way of our ideas. Whilst we may not have access to the same mentoring, anyone can use materials they already have access to, like she did with her first BEACON prototypes. She also added that YouTube videos have helped her with learning how to manage her time along with guidance from her mentors.
Hannah’s presentation was not only an extremely enlightening insight into her story, but an inspiration for everyone present, leaving an air of motivation lingering even after the session concluded. If there is one message that anyone could take away from Saturday’s plenary, it’s to never be scared of making failures, as they’re what set you on the path for change and impact!
The full recorded session of this workshop can be accessed here.