Taylor Wilson: Nuclear fusor built at 14; later radiation detectors
Nuclear fusor built at 14; later radiation detectors.
Wilson persuaded the University of Nevada, Reno's physics department to host a 14-year-old after his parents' garage became unsafe. His inertial electrostatic confinement fusor accelerates deuterium ions into a central grid until a small fraction fuse and release neutrons. It consumes far more energy than it makes; the achievement is building one at 14, which is widely reported, though not formally adjudicated, as the youngest ever. He later won the Intel Young Scientist Award for a low-cost radiation detector and a Thiel Fellowship.
IP note
No IP on the fusor (Farnsworth design); four US applications from 2012 (age 18), grant status unverified.
Recognition
Intel ISEF 2011 Young Scientist Award; Thiel Fellow.
What this means for a student inventor in India
[Editor: 120–200 words connecting this story to the Indian route — Section 6 (any true inventor may apply), provisional vs complete specification, disclosure at fairs (Section 31), renewals, and who owns what when a school is involved. Link to the relevant MYCrave guide.]
Related young innovators
- Rifath Sharook — KalamSat
- Angad Daryani — Shark
- Joseph-Armand Bombardier — First snow vehicle
Sources
[Editor: list the 2–4 primary sources from the research notes for this entry, with the date checked.]
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