Ranking 6th in Europe and 32nd worldwide, 17 year-old Angelos Getsis feels proud of his work and the prize he received from Google during its 2014 Science Fair. The young pupil designed a pair of special goggles designed to help the blind navigate their way. They work by ultrasound sensors which alarm for obstacles through vibrations, which the visually impaired or blind can sense on their body. He named his device Portable Evasive AssistanCE, (P.E.ACE).

Ghetsis says that he chose to create something for the visually impaired, because he “did some research and realised that science had not made any progress in that sector for decades.” He also says he was inspired by another Greek ‘Google laureate,’ Charalampos Ioannou, who made it to the 15 finalists at last year’s Google Science Fair, designing a mechanical glove for people with disabilities. In Greece, there are 22,000 people with vision problems, accounting for 0.2% of the population. Unfortunately, only 30% of them are economically active.