Life After TEDxKids | Ritik Mehta | TEDxKids@Vilnius

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

Ritik Mehta is a 14-year old who started his fascination with 3D printing back in 2011 at TEDxKids@Brussels. This fascination led him from mastering the technology to understanding its potential and from educating his peers to helping the needy.
As Forbes stated: "Not many people his age can claim an association with a technology as emergent as 3D printing, a non-profit organization, and the phenomenal TEDx, all at once."

If four years ago, somebody told me
I would be standing on this stage

and I would have a room
full of adults listening to me,

I would not have believed them.

But yet, here I am.

So, how did I get here
and why should you listen to me?

My name is Ritik Mehta,
I am 14 years old,

I am a digital native of the purest kind.

I've never used tapes or vinyls
or non-digital cameras.

I attended TEDxKids@Brussels 4 years ago,

and now I organize TEDxYouth@Flanders

since 3 years.

And I do it with my father and my sister.

I am here to tell you what happened
to my life after TEDxKids@Brussels,

what I learned from those experiences,

and how I see the future
of society and education.

All of this started by being
at the right place at the right time.

The place was Brussels
and the time was June 1st, 2011,

that's when TEDxKids@Brussels took place.

I was just a happy 10-year-old
walking around,

learning about technology
I only heard my dad talking about.

And the coolest moment there was

when I got to see my glasses
I designed a few days earlier,

but then 3D printed.

It was so cool, I had to know more.

So my dad bought us a printer.

It was not the best printer,
but at that time it was like amazing.

So I was playing
with a 3D designing software

and I got to learn more
about design, electronics,

and also learning more
about industrial processes,

like casting and vacuum molding.

I had a passion
that very few people understood.

So I started teaching others
what 3D printing is.

Whenever I could I would pack my printer
and go give them all sorts of workshops

to teach people how to 3D design
and how to 3D print.

After all of these experiences
my father and I thought

that I should share my experiences
on the TEDxYouth@Flanders stage.

We took a trip to California and we met
with the pioneers of this industry.

We saw that 3D printing is being used
to build cars, and robots,

and special effects in movies.

And I went on the stage
of TEDxYouth@Flanders in 2012

and I had an audience of 100 kids
and 1,100 viewers online.

After that TEDxYouth@Flanders talk
I started meeting more people,

and those people
didn't see me as a kid anymore.

They asked me about my thoughts,
and how I see things in the future.

The best thing you can do is
surround yourself with people

who encourage your ideas
and help you reach your goals.

And make sure your kids grow up
in such an environment

where they dare to dream big
and explore the unknown.

For instance, I met with Jason Dunn.

He works for Made In Space,
and they sent up a printer to the ISS.

And I got to see
the prototypes of the printer

like a month or somewhat before
and it was amazing.

It was like,"Wow!" the first time.

I also met with Bre Pettis.

He was the CEO of the company
that made my very first printer.

And I also got invited
to meet Peter Diamandis.

He is the guy who does
Singularity University and X Prizes.

Another one of these people
was Koen Van Pottelbergh.

He works for Eyes For The World,
that's a charity.

And meeting him took me back to 2011,
when I was making my glasses.

He is giving glasses
to the kids in Africa and Asia

who cannot afford them,
and they are pretty ugly.

The innovative part of this was
that the lenses are adjustable,

so you can add silicon
and make them thicker or thinner.

So you could have a pair of glasses
that were adjustable from -6 to +6.

And I thought, the frame itself
would have to grow as well,

because, you know, a kid grows,
so why not 3D print those?

I started learning more about
3D printing in developing countries,

plastic recycling, and making glasses
for any size of head.

All of this would cost money,
and who would pay for that?

I started giving workshops
to design your own glasses

and get charity rise to raise money
for Eyes For The World.

At one of those charity rise
in December of 2013,

I sat together with some people,

and we had an idea,
to make a pair of glasses

that would fit perfectly
and yet look amazing.

The money raised by these glasses,
part of it would go to Eyes For The World.

For every pair a person buys over here,
they get a pair over there.

All of it is still work in progress,
but we're getting fairly close.

I'm wearing a pair right now,
so if you want to come and see them

you can ask me later.

That was my journey till date.

I shared my experiences
with 3D printing with the kids,

and I'll share my thoughts
on the future with you.

In those short four years I learned a lot.

Some of the things that I learned was
that schools cannot teach everything.

I learned a lot more outside of school
than I learned in school.

I learned about robotics, AI, 3D printing,
drones, all that kind of stuff.

And school has no idea about those things.

I learned these things by going to events
like TED and Singularity University,

and doing more workshops.

And I also learned that I can learn
from the people I teach to.

So if I gave the workshops
I found new challenges.

you can do it this way,
this is also another way to do it.

I learned more stuff
and I improved my skill.

And if there aren't any organizations
out there that offer your interests,

like 3D printing, or drones,
or making aircrafts, or whatever,

you can create your own.

Just get together with some people
and organize an event,

like have some big come over
or even discuss a TED Talk.

The same can be done for workshops.

Help your kids to find a balance
between school, play, and passion.

My dad, he wants me to get
a minimum grade at school.

If I don't get that I can't come
to TEDx events and whatever with him.

I still have enough time
to play on my Xbox with my friends,

to still be a kid.

On a broader scale, I learned
a lot of things about the future.

I'll share my thoughts on that
with you as well.

Meeting with cool people,

I learned that things
are moving very fast.

Those things are called
exponential technologies,

and 3D printing is one of them.

It will change the speed
with which new things are being made.

It will give disruptors
a bigger opportunity to change things.

Even I am a disruptor in the aerobusiness,
so in the new future

you don't need to be a big company
to make a big difference.

The next thing is scary to some people,
but robots will steal your jobs.

In the future, robots will do
the dull, demanding, and dirty work.

That will still put
a lot of people out of work,

So, you'll need to find new ways
to keep yourselves busy and earn money.

I don't know what's
the best way that's out there,

but doing your own thing
for the local community works,

also jobs in health care and education
will always need humans.

The next thing is also a bit scary
to some people, but it's quite good.

Technology will improve the world.

Every new thing can be used
for the good and for the bad.

For example, 3D printing can be used
to print guns, copy designs, and what not.

But it can also be used to print
prosthetics for kids in poor areas.

So, which is more important?

I think our big future is in outer space.

Made In Space has already
sent a printer out there,

and if they have any problems

I'm glad to go up there
and fix it for them.

Just send me a ticket.

This is how I see the future of schools.

Schools won't be hierarchies,
it'll rather be a network.

Kids will get together
and they'll learn from each other.

For instance, I have a friend
called Andreas,

and he does a lot of stuff
in remote control racing.

He has a car that goes from 140km/h,

and he wants me
to print stuff for his car,

when I learn how the car
is actually working.

We exchange our knowledge.

If this network is even applied online,
kids can meet anywhere and everywhere,

and learn from each other.

And schools would be just called
"learning spaces",

like co-working spaces for businesses.

In Belgium we have
two big forms of high school:

ASO, which is general education
and TSO, which is technical education.

ASO children learn theory

and TSO children learn practice.

In the 'future school"' the theory
and the practice need to be combined.

Kids will learn how the theory they learn
is applied in the real world.

That's something I learned
outside of school,

but most kids don't get that exposure.

All of this started by being
in the right place at the right time.

And I have to thank my dad for taking me
to those places at those times.

(Applause)