Born in Mwanza, on the shores of Lake Victoria, Faisal Burhan had a modest upbringing. After his parent’s divorce, Faisal continued to receive some support while he remained at boarding school in a village called Katoro in northwestern Tanzania. Faisal’s prodigious curiosity propelled him to explore science with a great intensity. Faisal first feat was building a bio-digester machine.
Faisal endured skepticism and opposition to his idea at the school, but he persisted and built a coalition with his physics instructor. After convincing the school to grant him scarce funds he bought the sheet metal and other basic materials to construct a bio-digester. It produces gas that is now used in the school’s chemistry lab for Bunsen burners. He has impacted hundreds of his schoolmates and teachers.
Next, Faisal designed and built a microscope for his school’s science labs. He built it from lenses, mirrors, wood, cardboard, thread, a light bulb, and PVC plastic pipes. Faisal’s mind is always working and he hopes to follow through with one of his designs for a jet pack that runs on liquid hydrogen and oxygen. At 17, Faisal is a change agent whose tools are his mind and his hands. He learns keenly, dreams, and builds.
