With an increased interest in fitness and being more conscious of the environment, more people are biking to school and work or to even get around town.

However, bikes don’t have cellphone chargers. Or maybe they will, thanks to an American Preparatory Academy student, who stepped up to investigate.

Sophomore Santiago Rodriguez-Hamon recently created GenKit, a generator kit that can be placed on any bike and power the bicyclist’s needs.

“I had the idea to create some sort of a kit which you could put onto your bike that would generate electricity that could be stored in a battery or you could charge your phone directly during any commute or travels with your bike,” he said. “It makes your ride more productive.You’re reusing the energy that you put into pedaling the bike and converting that into something you can use even later like charging lights on your bike, so you’ll have that while traveling by night.”

Rodriguez-Hamon recently competed in the High School Utah Entrepreneur Challenge, where more than 150 teams or individuals entered the competition. Each high school team faced the challenge of identifying a problem and proposing a creative solution. 

The APA sophomore was named one of the top 20 individuals or teams. As a finalist, he received $1,000 for the University of Utah’s Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute, a nationally ranked hub for student entrepreneurship and innovation, which is a division of the David Eccles School of Business at the University of Utah. The contest was sponsored by Zions Bank.

“I’ve had this idea for about four years now, using your bike to generate electricity. I was looking at Dynamo (an electrical generator) and I thought it was cool how they use the wheel to power sunlight. I was kind of curious about how it works. I made previous prototypes that weren’t really successful, but it helped me understand different ways in which energy can be generated. Since then, I’ve been looking into cleaner forms of energy sources or ways of generating electricity,” said the AP environmental science student who said class discussions were about how detrimental pollutants are to the environment. “They produce a lot of greenhouse gases versus cleaner forms of energy like generating electricity through your bike and not producing CO2.

Rodriguez-Hamon happened upon the High School Utah Entrepreneur Challenge while looking online.

“I was intrigued. It’s an opportunity for people to put themselves out there and develop some cool ideas. I entered on a whim. I didn’t really expect to be into the top 20,” he said. “The judges really liked my idea and a few of them wanted to see more developed. I understand that because I brought basically a prototype, not even a finished product or close to one, so that really gave me some motivation to continue. I think there is some real potential with this with the GenKitbecause I haven’t really seen anything super similar to what I’m doing.”

This summer, Rodriguez-Hamon had plans to invest in different bike sizes. He has tested a 16-inch wheel, but he would like to test a 20- or 22-inch wheel. 

“I 3D printed some of my parts and the printer I used wasn’t super accurate and the quality wasn’t what I needed in this case. I’ll also investigate the techniques of wiring and electronics and figure out more efficient ways in improving the setup I already have. It’s mostly just research that I have to do and some tinkering. I always look at it and see ways it could be improved. I’m always thinking of things I can do,” said Rodriguez-Hamon, who also is looking into patenting his idea.

The South Jordan student, who has attended APA since the second grade and wants to study engineering at MIT, said he already has a few of his products available on his Etsy Shop, Practically Useful.

“I’ve designed replacement handles for a cart my soccer coach uses and I made a club clip. I went through a bunch of different designs and a few different materials to see which combination works best to produce. I like figuring things out and the process of working hard. I know if something doesn’t work, it needs improvement and even when it does work, there’s still alwayssomething to improve,” he said. “When I figured out the electronics work for the GenKitprototype, I was happy because it was only my first time soldiering and using those components in a project. I got pretty excited.”

Rodriguez-Hamon is thankful for the support he’s received.

“I really appreciate the support and help I had from my friends and family—the tips, motivation, music and patience made the whole experience one to remember,” he said. “Talking to the judges gave me the reassurance it was a good idea, and I learned a lot from the competition. (I) also encourage anyone else who is into engineering or business, or any sort of career, to pursue it and take every chance they get because every bit of experience is valuable.”