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| High-school freshman Ahmed Mohamed was arrested Monday for bringing a clock he built to school after it was mistaken for a bomb. Scientists, engineers and tech organizations have responded en masse with their support. Credit: The Dallas Morning News (via YouTube ) |
NASA, Obama, MIT and more hailed teenaged Ahmed Mohamed, who was arrested at school Monday when teachers mistook his homemade electronic clock for a bomb.
Social media quickly picked up the Texas teen’s cause with the marker #IStandWithAhmed, garnering offers to visit NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab , MIT, Google and the White House, a scholarship to Space Camp , and even am astronaut’s NASA shirt that’s flown in space (to complement the one he was wearing during his arrest).
NASA reaffirmed their support of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) curriculums, saying they hope to inspire kids like Ahmed.
We’re supporters of #STEM
& inspiring kids like Ahmed to pursue their dreams. Get involved: http://t.co/Bye4JcO1Ho
pic.twitter.com/XEHsZs21sS
— NASA (@NASA) September 16, 2015
Bobak Ferdowski, NASA’s ‘Mohawk Guy’ systems engineer at JPL who worked on landing the Curiosity Mars rover, offered his support, saying he might not have worked at NASA at all if he’d faced a similar situation.
I can’t imagine if be working @nasa
today if anything like this had ever happened to me. http://t.co/OajWwPXchB
#IStandWithAhmed
— Bobak Ferdowsi (@tweetsoutloud) September 16, 2015
Hey Ahmed, give me a call in a couple years. We could always use smart, curious & creative people. https://t.co/02a4feMrk5
— Bobak Ferdowsi (@tweetsoutloud) September 16, 2015
President Obama offered his encouragement, as well.
Cool clock, Ahmed. Want to bring it to the White House? We should inspire more kids like you to like science. It’s what makes America great.
— President Obama (@POTUS) September 16, 2015
Those invitations were joined by a few more: visits to MIT, Facebook and Google, to name a few (and an offer from R&B singer Ne-Yo), as well as an offer for a Twitter internship. It looks like he’ll take up at least one of those invites.
@IBJIYONGI
@anildash
I would love to!! MIT is my dream school.
— Ahmed Mohamed (@IStandWithAhmed) September 16, 2015
(He also got an in-person invite to the school’s Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research and Center for Theoretical Physics during an interview, saying that he is “the kind of student [they] want.”)
As a NASA fan, Mohamed has been offered a scholarship to space camp as well — from Homer Hickam, former NASA engineer and author of “Rocket Boys,” which became the movie “October Sky.” In 2013, Hickam offered such a scholarship to Kiera Wilmot, a high school student arrested after a science experiment done on school grounds exploded.
@SpaceCampUSA
My co-creators at http://t.co/VAytd0lYUx
have offered Ahmed a scholarship at Space Camp just as we did for Keira Wilmot.
— Homer Hickam (@HomerHickam) September 16, 2015
Canadian astronaut and space popularizer Chris Hadfield , known for his videos filmed in space, sent along an invitation to his science show in Toronto.
Hi @IStandWithAhmed
! I’d love you to join us for our science show Generator in Toronto on 28 Oct. There’s a ticket waiting for you.
— Chris Hadfield (@Cmdr_Hadfield) September 16, 2015
And in case he needs an upgrade to his now iconic NASA shirt, Mohamed has at least one space-faring alternative, from astronaut Dan Tani:
Looks like Ahmed might need a new NASA shirt. I can give him one of mine – that flew in space! #IStandWithAhmed
pic.twitter.com/I5aluiw24C
— Daniel Tani (@Astro_Tani) September 16, 2015
Email Sarah Lewin at slewin@space.com or follow her @SarahExplains . Follow us @Spacedotcom , Facebook and Google+ . Original article on Space.com .
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