PORTLAND, Ore. -- Shahir Rahman has always been taking things apart and putting them together.
He started with Legos. Now he's moved on to bigger puzzles, like how to harness thermal dynamics, artificial intelligence and the internet to better cook a variety of food in the microwave.
“I like to call this a smart, burn-proof microwave, that skips the salad,” said Westview High School Senior Shahir Rahman.
His latest invention is a smart microwave. Rahman got the idea after watching his dad heat up tea.
“Often times the tea would bubble over and the cup would burn to touch, so that was a concern I had.”
Rahman's microwave senses different types of food on a plate, computes the optimal eating temperature, and can heat up all the items at once without needing help from the user.
Your steak will be hot, but the salad will stay cool.
“You could put in ten different kinds of food,” he said.
Rahman took fourth place in the Regeneron Science Talent Search, and earned $100,000.
He plans to spend his summer getting the microwave patented, and then he’ll start at MIT.
Another Portland teen took 6th in the competition. He won $40,000.