Heman Bekele is an American scientist. He went viral for inventing a soap which has a probability to stop skin cancer.
He was born in Addis Abada, Ethiopia. Aged 15, he earned the title, “Kid of the Year 2024” by the TIME Magazine.
Quick Info
| Real Name | Heman Bekele |
| Age | 15 |
| Birthplace | Addis Abada, Ethiopia |
| Education | W.T. Woodson High School |
Ethnicity
Heman Bekele is of Ethiopian heritage. His parents are Wondwossen B. Gemechu and Muluemebet Getachew Ejigu.
His mother Muluemebet is a teacher at Firfax County Public Schools’ Lynbrook Elementary School since 2013 per LinkedIn. She has done an MS and MEd in Education from State University of New York and George Mason University respectively.
Wondwossen, his father, holds the position Human Resources Specialist for U.S. Mission to South Sudan per highergov.com.
He has two sisters Hasset and Liya, aged 16 and 7 respectively.
Personal Life
Though born in Addis Abada, his family moved to the United States when he was four years old.
He is a high school sophomore student at the W.T. Woodson High School in Annandale, Virginia.
His parents have been supportive in helping him pursue his endeavours.
He is extremely self-driven, energetic and motivated beyond his age. We, as parents, believed in him, created the environment and space, encouraged him to follow his dreams and to try things that seem to be impossible.
Heman Bekele’s parents about him
Career
Heman Bekele grew up to be a creative person. He self-learned programming languages such as Python, Javascript, C, etc.
For his passion in the field of medicine and programming, he did various researches and did internships in computer science and STEM.
After receiving a chemistry set as his 7th birthday gift, he became making numerous experiments with chemicals.
In late 2023, he won the Youngest Scientist Challenge, held by 3M company and Discovery Education, winning $25,000 as the prize amount.
He used these earnings to funds his research and eventually came up with the invention of a soap which has the potentiality to cure and prevent the occurrence of skin cancer.
To achieve his dream of making a positive impact, he actively spends a few hours during weekdays at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. With the invention of soap attracting online attention, he hopes to make a better change in people’s life.
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Photo credit: TIME via YouTube.