Sound-Wave Fire Extinguisher: Sheinbaum Honors Student for Gold Medal in Indonesia

A student from the Mexican state of Tamaulipas has developed a portable fire extinguisher that puts out small fires with sound waves, without water, foam or chemicals. Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum honored the teenager on Thursday, October 22, for a gold medal she won with the device at a science fair in Indonesia.

The Vortex Tech project won at the 2026 International Science and Invention Fair (ISIF), held October 14-16. According to the newspaper Milenio, more than 800 projects competed there, 110 of them in the student's category. According to Animal Político and the Tamaulipas education authority, she also received the IYSA Semi Grand Award. It allows her to take part in the online competition I2ASPO 2026.

The teenager is studying electronics in high school; reports on her age vary between 16 and 17. On X, the Portuguese-language account @dailycultures presented the invention on Monday, October 26.

Low tones displace oxygen

The device consists of a 12-volt battery, a frequency generator, an amplifier and a speaker. A modified bucket serves as a kind of cannon. The extinguisher produces sound waves of about 30 hertz. These trigger turbulence and vortex-shaped rings of air that displace the oxygen around the flame and thus interrupt combustion.

"The extinguisher was able to put out different types of fires – on wood, flammable liquids, electronic devices and cooking oil – in less than ten seconds," the student told the broadcaster Radio Fórmula. According to Milenio, she ran more than 100 tests. A range of up to two meters still has to be confirmed.

The invention was inspired by a video from the U.S. military research agency DARPA showing a large sound cannon extinguishing flames. The student worked on the device for about a year and built five prototypes. Her uncle, who has experience with international science competitions, accompanied her as an adviser. Local authorities and the Tamaulipas Ministry of Education supported her participation in the competitions.

Vortex Tech is still an experimental prototype and is not ready for the market. According to the news site Lo de Hoy, the student is working on a version that detects fire automatically and directs the sound waves at the flame. There is reportedly no government program so far to produce or promote the device.

President calls student a role model

At her morning press conference, Sheinbaum said the Ministry of Science had contacted the student. "She is an example for hundreds and hundreds of students."

On Instagram, the student wrote that the gold medal means "much more than recognition – it is the result of never giving up, believing in our ideas and working to make them a reality."