Eric Yao, a junior at West Liberty High School, is an innovative scholar inspiring people to be courageous and to not limit themselves.
Growing up, Yao loved toys, his favorite one was always Lego. Lego has taught him problem solving skills and the power of transforming your space with what is around you. Four years ago, Eric created a Youtube channel where he would upload stop motion Lego videos and trailers.
Although he felt confident making stop motion Lego videos, Yao had self-doubts. He only had six fingers.
He would wear a left-hand cast or hide his left hand in his pocket to hide his insecurity from society. His biggest fear was being judged or mocked.
One day in 2018, Eric discovered David "Hand Solo" Aguilar on Youtube. He discovered that David had made a fully prosthetic hand with Lego. Little did he know that this would become the start of a journey of self-discovery where he would improve his confidence.
That year, Eric got out his box of Lego bricks and made his first prosthetic hand with rubber bands, Lego pieces, and a circuit pulley system.
He was in seventh grade, by then he had a good concept of Lego and as a self-starter he worked to create the hand.
Afterwards, he created his second prototype. It was a full arm exoskeleton. It had an elbow piece as well as a claw. Eric kept pushing forward and in 2020, he created his third one.
This one was advanced and worked like a normal hand. It was there where he had an overwhelming experience.
For some folks Lego can be just toys, but for Eric, Lego meant possibilities. They were life changing and taught him that he is capable of doing anything.
Eric became motivated and worked on his fourth prosthetic. Although the prototype was more advanced than before and even had an Mp3 player on it, it was not functional.
This experience taught Eric about failure. Failure taught him resiliency. You can only bounce up from this. It is possible to get better at something, even after failure.
Around the time of the failed prototype, the world was going through a pandemic. During quarantine, Yao decided to create a fifth prototype cyborg.
He began brainstorming and creating sketches. He wanted something more innovative. He looked into adding a circuit and motor.
He researched for hours and discovered arduino, a program that helps you program a circuit and run components. He had so much drive that he kept learning about programming and learned to power LEDs using muscle signals.
After all that learning, he started creating the hand. Everything Yao had done to this point led him to this moment. This fifth creation became a functioning arduino Lego prosthetic hand.
The most impressive thing about Eric's creations is that all his prototypes were made with NO instructions.
He did not have guides to help him. He taught himself coding language and learned the process by himself. This young man used his imagination and skills, which required patience, math, and lots of dedication.
There were many trials and errors, but as the days and months went by, Eric's resilience and capacity for growth, evolved into confidence and extraordinary creations.
He started letting go of his insecurities and stopped hiding his hand. West Liberty teacher Jackie Henderson is a mentor for him who has supported him throughout the years and encouraged him to step out of his comfort zone.
Currently, Eric, along with his peers Bryson Garcia, Betsy Bejarano, and Pearson Hall, is competing in a global competition held by Samsung’s, Solve for Tomorrow.
This competition focuses on helping solve a problem within our community using STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math). Their project "The Power of the Hand" revolves around individuals with disabilities and those that lack self-confidence.
The team is sharing Eric's story, hosting Lego drives and making kits to inspire young minds to propel their boundless potential and tap into their leadership and innovative skills.
They've challenged the public to create a feature/improvement to Eric's prosthetic hand and/or create something that solves a problem you or someone else may have by using STEM.
The challenge is to create something that will have functionality and sustainability (materials found in the house).
This past December, they had a Lego drive and received $2,000 in Lego products alone. If you are interested in donating any Lego for the team, please feel free to drop them off at the high school
Eric humbly asks the community to share his story and raise awareness of our true potentials beyond our vision. Do not let anything limit you, step out of your comfort zone. Become an alchemist and change the world around you.
Lastly, he wants to give his heartfelt gratitude to his family, friends, and teachers for giving him the space to have integrity and support his personal growth, which led him to be the person he is today.
