29 years old, 29 patents

When Gueh How Kiap told his mother about the dream of becoming an inventor, the answer he received was: ' Do not be fantasized. In the United States it is fine, but how can I become an inventor in Singapore ? '

Kiap and mother - Photo: New Paper

Ms. Ann Tong, Kiap's mother, has reason to worry about her son's ability. As a child, he had a high fever and she used to fear her son was at risk of polio. Fortunately, Kiap grew up healthy, but her answer did not stop haunting him the whole time. Kiap does not believe that in Singapore people cannot become inventors.

He presented his first invention in his life as a student at Delta Middle School. After watching a documentary about the blinds in the UK, Kiap came up with an initiative to make a stick for the visually impaired who could glow in foggy conditions. This invention helped bring Kiap two Young Designers and Young Inventors awards in 1992. Soon, an American design firm came and paid Kia a large sum of money for the application. glowing technology into the line of sports shoes. ' I was really excited by that proposal and determined my career path in the future: to be a true inventor, ' he said.

From a well-educated student, who has never attended a prestigious school and only graduated from Singapore Polytechnic High, the 29-year-old has become the owner of 29 patents. He has never worked in companies like other friends and still relies on his stable financial resources.

The inventions registered at KiaP's Singapore Intellectual Property Department are quite diverse, ranging from life-serving products such as adjustable heel shoes for you to adjust height when wearing shoes, salt filtration system, Processing and storing fresh water from sea water, he named it 'Nhac nuoc'.

With this initiative, boats can process seawater into fresh water for use on voyages. Kiap has invested $ 2.7 million in the idea of ​​building a 'Water Music' system, with funding funded by investors. He hopes his invention will help people living in arid lands and can help solve water problems in the world.

One of Kiap's other inventions is a data security program called 'System and transaction method', which helps protect confidential information (such as PIN codes) from being stolen on the network. This invention helped him to win a special prize in the competition organized by the Korean Business Association (Kova) in 2004.

Kiap confides that for most inventions, just spending 160 USD can register a degree of ownership, but the effort and money spent on that invention sometimes cannot be calculated in money. . It was the joy of creating useful products for life that helped Kiap gain more confidence to continue pursuing his favorite work.

THANH TRUC