91导航

By Caitlin Jennings, Communications Coordinator, 91导航 & the Public

Not many SSP alumni can say their project has been featured on a聽, on the cover of聽,聽and on Jay Leno鈥檚 show, but Ben Gulak (Intel ISEF 2004, 2006, 2007) can.

The Uno Bike, which won second place at Intel ISEF 2007, has been getting a lot of attention for being both environmentally friendly (it鈥檚 electric) and attractive. Ben noticed that many electric vehicles were designed from an engineering viewpoint, not a marketing viewpoint, and that for green vehicles to catch on they would have to be appealing. 鈥淚 wanted to inspire people that being green can be cool,鈥� he says.

The Uno Bike has since taken off, attracting a lot of media attention and some investors. 聽While studying both business and engineering at MIT, Ben has also started a business, BPG-Werks, and a new product, the DTV Shredder. The DTV Shredder聽is an off-road, all-terrain tracked skateboard. It can handle anything from sand, snow, mud, and trails. While it was originally envisioned as a new extreme sport, Ben is now also developing the militarized version of the Shredder for the US Army.

Despite Ben鈥檚 success with his science project, he didn鈥檛 really like science in school. 鈥淪cience class, chemistry, memorizing all these useless formulas, I never really saw the point,鈥� he says. He enjoyed making projects with his grandfather in the basement, but didn鈥檛 participate in science fairs until 9th grade when it was a class requirement. The project he made, a working model of a transportation system facilitated by magnets and electromagnets, earned him a spot on Team Canada and a trip to Intel ISEF 2004.

鈥淭he entire reason I got into engineering in the first place was really through the science fair,鈥� he says. 鈥淲hen I was there, I remember, I was suddenly hit by all these amazing projects. It was all kids my age who were making them and working with universities. And I realized that all the boring stuff that you learn in school can actually be used and applied to make really neat things. And that鈥檚 when I started getting really into it.鈥� He says that being treated like a 鈥渕ini rock star鈥� that whole week also didn鈥檛 hurt. 鈥淚 was hooked,鈥� he says. 鈥淸Intel] ISEF overall has had a huge impact on my life.鈥�

Now he serves as one of the judges who selects which project will represent Team Canada. He advises current science fair participants to pick a project they really love doing because doing a project really well takes a lot of time and hard work, which requires passion. He also encourages participants to keep their stress from taking over. 鈥淲hen you鈥檙e talking to the judges, you can鈥檛 get nervous because they鈥檙e there to listen and to learn about the work that you鈥檝e done, and if you鈥檙e nervous, you won鈥檛 be able to explain all the information and all the work that you did,鈥� he says, adding that, despite the intimidation of being judged by impressive scientists, 鈥渢hey are there to help you.鈥�

• Learn more about the聽
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• Watch Ben pitch his project to venture capitalists on the聽
• Support science by聽joining SSP