Meet 14-year old Ethiopian immigrant named America’s Top Young Scientist

1 year ago
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"Heman Bekele...14-year-old...in Fairfax, Va...was born in Ethiopia. Heman Bekele is the winner of this year's 3M Young Scientist Challenge, in which middle-schoolers tackle real-world problems through science." https://www.npr.org/2023/10/27/1209131164/at-14-years-old-americas-top-young-scientist-dreams-of-curing-skin-cancer

"Heman Bekele...won the 2023 3M Young Scientist Challenge [one of America's most prestigious middle school science competitions] last week. Heman developed Melanoma Treating Soap, a compound-based bar of soap designed to treat skin cancer. ...The final product came out to a shockingly cheap $0.50 per bar of soap – a far more affordable and accessible treatment than traditional skin cancer treatments. ...Heman spent the last four months competing against nine other finalists, winning the competition at 3M global headquarters in St. Paul, Minn., on Oct. 9 and 10." https://www.nbc15.com/2023/10/19/14-year-old-named-americas-top-young-scientist-creating-soap-that-treats-skin-cancer/

As can be seen in the group photo in the above article; of the 9 other finalists: 8 were Asians and 1 was Anglo-American. Asians are 40 percent of the U.S. foreign-born population and are the fastest growing immigrant group in America. Immigration policies welcome Asians compared to people from rural nations. Asians are granted a disproportionate number of visas and are the largest foreign-born population in America. Heman Bekele's soap is a topical treatment for surface level cancers like squamous cell carcinoma of the skin. Treating skin cancer costs on average $40,000. Whereas with Heman Bekele's invention; it will cost $8.50 just to get 10 bars of his cancer-removing soap.

"Deborah Isabelle, a product engineering specialist" said “He’s so far ahead of us. It was very exciting to work with him because he’s so passionate and so focused, but he’s also willing to accept suggestions". ( http://web.archive.org/web/20231025193838/https://afrotech.com/heman-bekele-named-americas-top-young-scientist

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