The Nobles.

During a famine that pulled him out of school, Kamkwamba taught himself from library books and built a working windmill from bicycle parts and blue-gum trees to light his family's home in Wimbe.

Won the Google Science Fair with a flashlight powered entirely by the warmth of a human hand, using Peltier tiles — inspired by a friend in the Philippines who couldn't study after dark.

Built his own batteries, generators, and a full FM transmitter from scavenged parts to broadcast news and music to his Freetown neighborhood, then became MIT's youngest visiting practitioner.

After watching the Flint water crisis on the news, invented a portable device using carbon nanotubes to detect lead in drinking water in seconds. Later named TIME's first Kid of the Year.

Designed a solar-powered water purification system using a photocatalytic composite, aimed at communities without reliable electricity or clean water.

Built an underwater ROV to detect microplastics on the ocean floor, using infrared sensors to distinguish plastics from sand.

Sketched a passive system to pull plastic from the ocean during a school assignment; ten years later, his organization deploys it in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

Drafted a paper-based sensor to detect pancreatic, ovarian, and lung cancer, using an approach that outperformed the standard of care in early testing. Won the Intel ISEF grand prize.

Built a 3D-printed robotic prosthetic arm controlled by an EEG headset in his bedroom, later founding a company delivering affordable custom prosthetics to children.

Built an iOS app to help Alzheimer's patients recognize loved ones and remember daily events, inspired by her grandmother's diagnosis.

Designed a car exhaust filter using live algae to absorb CO₂ before it left the tailpipe.

Tired of losing cattle to lions, wired a circuit of flashing bulbs powered by a car battery around his family's boma — the lights simulated human presence and kept the pride away. The invention spread across Maasai villages.

Blinded in an accident at three, invented a raised-dot alphabet at twelve that gave the blind world their own written language. Adopted globally after his death.

Invented an alarm system that alerts parents when a child is left in a hot car, after years of tragic news stories in her state.

Built robots from an early age and later launched affordable computing solutions for African students, becoming one of the continent's most-watched young engineers.

Became CEO of an animation studio at 14 after mastering 2D and 3D animation as a child, hiring adults twice her age.

Turned her great-grandmother's flaxseed lemonade recipe into a national brand at four, donating a share of profits to bee-conservation groups; her lemonade is now sold in thousands of stores.

Started designing bow ties in his grandmother's kitchen; by his teens, had a licensing deal with the NBA and a brand recognized nationwide.

Began writing pseudonymously for the BBC at 11 about life under Taliban rule; survived an assassination attempt at 15; became the youngest Nobel Peace laureate and founder of the Malala Fund for girls' education.

Escaped bonded child labor at 10, led a global movement against child slavery in the carpet industry, and was murdered at 12; the movement he sparked freed thousands of children after his death.

Recognized the signs of an incoming tsunami on a Thai beach in 2004 from a geography lesson two weeks earlier, and warned her family and the beach — saving an estimated hundred lives.