Iranian-Canadian inventor is pursuing his dream

Mina Rahimi, Ottawa: An efficient education system not only provides the context for growth and flourishing talents, but also is one of the important pillars of creating the economic and political future of any society. Unfortunately, due to the inefficient education system in Iran, many young Iranians have not been able to discover their talents and pursue their interests, or others, despite discovering their interests, are not able to pursue them in the country and have to leave their homeland to achieve their dreams.

19-year-old Erfan Nouraee is one of these talented young people. He immigrated to Canada from Iran with his family two years ago to pursue his dream of success, and is currently studying electrical engineering at York University.

Erfan has patented two inventions so far and has participated in many science fairs to display his ideas. In his developing trend, Nouraee has received the honorary title of Inventor or Inv in 2021 from the International Federation of Inventors Association (IFIA). Also in the same year, with his invention titled ”Photon Detector System for the Analysis and Noise Reduction of Optical Signals Carrying Digital Information” he participated in the International Invention and Innovation competition of IFIA which is held among the members of this federation as a representative of Canada and he won the bronze medal of this scientific event.

In an interview with the Titre magazine, Nouraee talks about the story of his life and his interest in scientific activities. Erfan has been interested in aerospace, physics and astronomy since he was a child, and has always been studying about shuttles, spacecraft and how they work, and in the continuation of his researches, he used to make shuttles with simple tools such as glue and paper. Even when his family sent the photos of his creations to NASA, NASA responded and introduced a school in the United States to enroll him.

As Erfan grew older, his interest in physics got deeper, and he was always studying advanced physics books. At the age of 15, he came up with his first idea – Single-photon Detector System for the Analysis of Photoelectrons Radiation. His invention, which has scientific approvals, won the Kharazmi Festival Award. But when he did not receive any support from Iranian officials to expand his ideas, he decides to immigrate to Canada.

Erfan, who is one of the critics of the education system in Iran, said: “I think the university entrance exam kills the creativity of Iranian youth and jeopardizes their mental health. The education system in Iran is designed in such a way that students only study like robots. I never studied for the entrance exam and I always pursued my interests.”

Erfan started his second invention at the age of 17 and invented a device capable of reducing noise from optical signal. In addition to high quality, this device has a low price. This invention, known as “Photon Detector System for the Analysis and Noise Reduction of Optical Signals Carrying Digital Information”, has scientific approvals and has been patented in the United States. These days, in addition to studying at York University, Nouraee, who lives in Toronto, is also working on his personal studies and is trying to add new inventions to his portfolio.

In addition to scientific activities, Nouraee also has a glimpse into the field of politics and works in this field with passion. “I would like to support the Canadian-Iranians and make up for their lost rights due to the political situation in Iran. I work as a member of the Youth Council of Federal Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade and have worked for the Liberal Party,” Erfan said. “I am interested in working at the scientific-political level.”

It should be noted that his second invention which won the bronze medal in the IFIA competition has been extensively covered in the Canadian media, scientific and political circles. Toronto Mayor John Tory, Ontario Prime Minister Doug Ford, Representative of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Queen Elizabeth Representative, York University, Senate, Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade of Canada, Federal Parliament, Start up Canada, Communitech, and official Canadian government account have praised Erfan and the Canadian government has promised to invest in his project.

He is looking to start a company to patent and build his ideas and believes he needs to win more awards in order to attract government funding. Nouraee considers his main goal to be supporting young people who could not pursue their interests in various fields and whose talents were ignored due to the inefficient education system in Iran.