About a year ago, Taj Pabari, then 14 years old was in his school doing an assignment that required him to sandwich two pieces of plastic together and like most entrepreneurs, he didn’t do what he was supposed to do but rather decided to tinker with it. The end result came about 10 months later when he was shortlisted for a Young Innovator of the Year award and pitched his product to investors. What this Australian entrepreneur came up with was a LEGO-inspired tablet kit.
Pabari says, ‘I was in class and we had to stick two pieces of plastic casing together. So I thought, why not make this into a tablet? I pulled apart my Nexus, reworked the casing a little, cut out a display and built a computer in between.’ MechTech Creations is comprised of 3D printing, knowledge of computer hardware and the amazing optimism of youth. The startup based in Brisbane was started by Pabari and the earliest iterations of the tablet kit that were made here had cost him $46. Soon, Pabari opted for something that was more education oriented.
He shares, ‘Like most children, we loved LEGO and that feeling of accomplishment when a creation comes together. What we are trying to do is deliver that immediate satisfaction but with the long-lasting, educational benefits.’ The ImagineTech Tablet Kit has been designed for children of 4-14 years of age and explains the workings (internal) of an Android tablet. Once the pieces has been assembled a software pertaining to visual programming by the name of ImaginCoder loads up that enable the kids to tinker with building own games and apps.
COO of MechTech, Ben Mandeville-Clark who is 19 years old says, ‘What we are trying to do is inspire young innovation. We are creating what we hope will be the Lego of the 21st century.’ We must commend Pabari for using the fascination that every child has with smartphones and tablets and turning it into something that can be helped to educate children.
The ImaginTech Tablet Kit comes with a 7-iinch 1024×600 multi-touch display, 1 GB of RAM, a dual core processor (1.2 GHz) and 8 GB of storage that is extendable via microSD card slot. Power is provided via 2,500 mAh rechargeable lithium-polymer battery. 