Teen's Solution To Tangled Earbuds Earn Him A Ticket To The White House
By Trang Do
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Shemar Coombs, 19, of Southwest Philadelphia, came up with an invention that earned him a ticket to the White House.
"A year ago, I didn't even have this idea," he said. "Six months ago, I would've never even thought I would be at the White House."
Coombs, now a freshman at Penn State Abington, developed a solution to those pesky tangled headphone cords in a high school entrepreneurship class his senior year.
"I ended up spending the whole time in class untangling them, my headphones, so that's how I came up with the idea," he said.
Rap-it-up is 3D printed phone case that keeps your headphones neat and tangle-free.
"Basically, the headphones would he wrapped up inside of the case like this," he said. "And that way, it'll just go all the way around the case."
Coombs entered his product into a regional competition, got first place and a ticket to nationals. Wednesday, Rap-it-up was one of more than 100 ideas presented at the annual White House Science Fair.
"Oh I'm so proud of him! I'm so excited too! I'm a proud mom!" said Patricia Coombs, Shemar's mother.
For Campbell, seeing her son meet President Barack Obama brought tears to her eyes.
"Did you cry?" asked CBS3's Trang Do. "A little (laughs), but it was tears of joy," Campbell said.
It was also an unforgettable moment for Coombs.
"I told everyone I wasn't gonna wash my hand for a while," he said. "Because the handshake was so memorable."
Coombs is working with a 3D printing company to develop a prototype for his product. He hopes to one day license it to sell.