Recently, Greek high school senior Haris Ioannou earned an excellent distinction in the 24^th European Union Contest for Young Scientists in Bratislava, where congregated the current brilliant minds of European youth.

Haris was awarded for the invention and construction of a palm kinetic enhancement device, an innovative mechanical unit that has already attracted the massive interest of the international industry.

Young Ioannou himself reveals that his source of inspiration for constructing the state of the art device was his grandmother. He noticed her trying to grab the TV remote with her feeble hand, then dropping it once and grab it back again only to end up pressing the buttons with painful persistence.

The invention

The device designed by Haris Ioannou consists of a metallic glove, equipped with micromotors, sensors and a processor, which senses the palm movements and adds power to the joints of the hand. As Haris himself explains, the glove puts pressure in the right points of the hand in order to enhance the movement.

Upon finishing constructing his device, Haris’s teacher suggested him to put in for the Panhellenic Contest for Young Scientists, where Haris received the First Prize. Later on, a Ministry of Education scientific committee chose Ioannou’s innovative mechanical device to represent the country in the 24^th European Union Contest for Young Scientists taking place in Bratislava, where the young scientist was awarded the first prize in Mechanics category and a money prize of €3,000.