Young scholar a champion of the 'maker' movement

Sixteen-year-old Joey Hudy, a student at Gary K. Herberger Young Scholars Academy on ASU’s West campus, was invited to sit with First Lady Michelle Obama at the recent State of the Union Address in Washington, D.C. The invitation followed Hudy’s encounter with President Obama when the two launched the young maker’s extreme marshmallow cannon across the East Room of the White House two years ago.

Phoenix Business Journal reporter Hayley Ringle sat down with Hudy for an interview after his return to the Valley. He told her he wants to empower kids like him to “make something” by finding new and unique applications for a wide range of technologies at places where you can go to make things – such as the new TechShop Inc. in Chandler and HeatSync Labs in Mesa.

Hudy’s global participation so far at a dozen maker faires also brought him to the attention of Intel Corporation, which recently hired him as its youngest-ever intern. While in Washington, Hudy also took part in a Google+ hangout with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, and joined America’s top STEM experts at the second annual State of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math event at the White House.

The story noted that President Obama even joked that after he leaves office, Hudy could hire him to help promote his inventions, at the end of this “West Wing Week turn 200” video.

Hudy is also credited with inspiring the White House to sponsor its first maker faire this fall, and Hudy is featured in this announcement video released last week: http://news.cnet.com/8301-10797_3-57618256-235/white-house-to-announce-its-first-ever-maker-faire/.