Nate Ball
Nate Ball is an inventor, entrepreneur, athlete, musician, and TV host whose fascination with engineering and experimentation started early. His childhood projects included building kayaks, hovercraft, potato guns, a Tesla coil, and even burning the family kitchen in a rocket fuel experiment gone awry. Eventually his inventive spirit led him to MIT, where he earned two degrees in mechanical engineering and helped develop content for WGBH's Emmy and Peabody award-winning show Design Squad, which he hosted from 2007-2010.
At 24, Ball became the youngest winner of the prestigious Lemelson-MIT Student Prize. The award recognized his work on a revolutionary needle-free vaccine delivery device, and lauded his co-invention of a powered rope ascender: a real-life version of Batman’s grappling setup that his lifesaving equipment company, Atlas Devices, now supplies to government and military rescue groups in the U.S. and abroad.
Nate shares his infectious enthusiasm for engineering by combining it with his interests and expertise in many pursuits - including pole vaulting, beatboxing, jazz piano, and parkour - to yield surprising, captivating, and sometimes even informative results.
At 24, Ball became the youngest winner of the prestigious Lemelson-MIT Student Prize. The award recognized his work on a revolutionary needle-free vaccine delivery device, and lauded his co-invention of a powered rope ascender: a real-life version of Batman’s grappling setup that his lifesaving equipment company, Atlas Devices, now supplies to government and military rescue groups in the U.S. and abroad.
Nate shares his infectious enthusiasm for engineering by combining it with his interests and expertise in many pursuits - including pole vaulting, beatboxing, jazz piano, and parkour - to yield surprising, captivating, and sometimes even informative results.
Mechanical Engineer
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