Aaron Hannon (19) is an inventor. He invented EnableArm, a shaving device for people with limited hand dexterity. He’s also part of the Williams Formula One Engineering Academy. Here he talks about his first steps into business life. 
How did your idea emerge?
The project is very much family inspired. My late grandfather Joe, an active man who took great pride in his appearance, suffered a stroke in late 2003, causing paralysis in his left side. His abilities to perform even the most personal and most basic tasks were eroded – such as his ability to shave. It was very difficult for me to watch his frustration and upset, and so I wanted to create a device which would help people in this situation.
How does it work?
The device automatically shaves the user’s face, which removes the need for users to have the hand control required to shave one’s face. The device can be controlled by voice commands from a mobile phone app, which connects to the device via Bluetooth, allowing the user to have complete control over their shaving routine without outside assistance. The device sits on the user’s head like a pair of headphones and has a visor which can move on-axis through the ear up and down around the user’s face.
“I relish the technical challenge of expanding my work on the shaving device into a whole range of new applications.”
It seems like a very complex invention?
It was certainly a huge challenge, especially considering I didn’t actually know how to code at the start of the project. I literally started the software aspect of the design by learning how to make LEDs blink. While there were certainly moments where I was tearing my hair out, it wasn’t all about the difficulty. I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the design process.

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This post was originally published here - https://www.thinkbusiness.ie/articles/irelands-next-great-inventor-aaron-hannon/ on