Angela Karime Vinigas-Hernandez Vortex Tech
by Manon Culture: Mexico
What if sound waves replaced water and chemicals to put out fires? That's the Vortex Tech concept from 16 y/o Angela Karime Vinigas-Hernandez in Tamalapas, Mexico. Her device uses a battery, frequency generator, amplifier, and speaker to emit low-frequency waves around 30 hertz that disrupt oxygen feeding flames. Small fires go out in seconds after she ran over 100 tests on wood, flammable liquids, cooking oil, and electronics. She took this invention to Indonesia for the 2026 International Science and Invention Fair where she beat roughly 110 global projects to secure gold.
Transcript (en)
Firefighters have fought flames the same way for a century. Water, foam, chemical powder. Then a 16-year-old from Tamalapas, Mexico asked, what if we use sound? Meet Angela Karime Vinigas-Hernandez. She built Vortex Tech, a battery, a frequency generator, an amplifier, and a speaker. It sends out low-frequency sound waves around 30 hertz that disrupt the oxygen feeding the fire. Small flames go out in seconds, and she has run over 100 tests on wood, flammable liquids, cooking oil, and electronics. She took her invention to Indonesia and won gold at the 2026 International Science and Invention Fair up against around 110 projects from around the world. No water, no chemicals, just an idea. After fires like the ones that tore through L.A., imagine if governments backed brilliant young minds like hers. the future of firefighting might be listed
