A 15-year-old child of Ethiopian parents, Heman Bekele has always had a zeal for science and an interest in conducting his own science experiments from a very young age.
Bekele, born in Addis Ababa to his parents Muluemebet Getachew and Wondwossen, spent his early childhood in Ethiopia before his family emigrated to the United States when he was 4.
His mother, Muluemebet, is a special education teacher at FCPS’s Lynbrook Elementary School, and his father, Wondwossen, is said to be a human resources specialist for the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Despite his parents’ different backgrounds, they always supported their son Heman Bekele was passionate about. With their unwavering support, Heman began conducting his science experiments at age 7, mixing whatever he could find at home.
According to Time’s report, Bekele would use regular soap, detergents, and common household chemicals and hide them under the bed to see the results the following day. Further, when given a sample of sodium hydroxide, he learned that aluminum and sodium hydroxide can produce massive heat online together.
After that, he tried the experiment, mixing the two elements—sodium hydroxide and aluminum—which almost started a fire. Nevertheless, his eagerness to learn has led to some promising discoveries, with some prestigious recognition.
Time has honored Herman Bekele with the Kid of the Year 2024 award for inventing a soap that can treat and prevent skin cancer!
Bekele’s keenness has earned him the title of America’s top young scientist and the recognition as Time’s kid of the year 2024.
In October 2023, the 3M company and Discovery Education selected Bekele, a 10th-grader at Woodson High School, as its Young Scientist Challenge winner.
His invention of soap that could possibly treat and even prevent skin cancer made him win the challenge and earn $25000.
According to Time, Bekele said, “When I was younger, I didn’t think much of it, but when I came to America, I realized what a big problem the sun and ultraviolet radiation are when you’re exposed to them for a long time.”
Because of his idea to make soap available to every socioeconomic class, Time named him Kid of the Year on August 15, 2024.
Additional Information
- Heman Bekele is his parents’ second child; he has a 16-year-old elder sister, Hasset Bekele, and a 7-year-old younger sister, Liya.
- He is a part of the Woodson High School marching band on both flute and trombone and also plays basketball.
- Heman is also a self-taught programmer- fluent in Python, Lua, JavaScript, and C. passionate about medicine, programming, and making an impact.
