We're celebrating Jason Ahn, his invention—the ARE Board, and the teachers, mentors and invention community who helped him turn curiosity into creation.
What started as a half-asleep moment in an Ames High School classroom became an invention, national recognition and a soon-to-be-issued patent for Jason Seong Hun Ahn.
Jason looked up one day and watched his teacher erase the whiteboard, preparing to write the same lesson again for another class.
“Same lesson, same board, several times a day, wiped and rewritten every time,” Jason recalled.
That moment inspired the ARE Board—Auto Rolling and Erasing Whiteboard. The invention uses a looped writing surface that moves completed sections out of view, digitally captures the content and automatically erases the surface before returning it to the writing area.
Jason wanted to create a more affordable alternative to expensive digital whiteboards, particularly for classrooms that may not have the resources to purchase them.
From an idea to a working invention
Jason began building the ARE Board in early 2022, often working late at night and using whatever materials he could find around Ames, IA. Early prototypes were built on a kitchen table and in available spaces at school.
There were plenty of failures along the way. Some versions jammed, while others failed to erase the surface properly. Looking back, Jason sees those failures as an essential part of the process.
“Each failure told me something specific that I had no other way of learning,” he said. “The design that eventually worked exists because of the ones that did not.”
Jason also credits the teachers and mentors who helped him along the way, particularly Ames High School teachers Elizabeth Brenneman, AP Physics, and Patrick Leonard, Manufacturing. Brenneman helped Jason conduct an experiment to determine the coefficient of friction of his whiteboard surface, helping him refine the conveyor system. Leonard helped him construct wood frames for his prototype.
“I think a lot of young inventors quietly believe that asking for help means they are not good enough to be doing this,” Jason said. “It is the opposite. Asking is how the thing gets built.”
From Iowa to national recognition
In spring 2022, Jason, a student from the state of Iowa, competed in the Independent Inventor Program and went on to participate in Invention Convention U.S. Nationals where he received the Best Logbook Award for his documentation of the invention process. He also received a Patent Application Award presented by WilmerHale. The recognition celebrated not only the ARE Board itself, but the work behind it—documenting ideas, testing prototypes, learning from failures and continually refining the design.
- With counsel provided through an Invention Convention patent award, Jason filed U.S. patent application 17/992,295 on November 22, 2022.
- The application was published in 2024 as US 2024/0165987 A1.
- In July 2026, Jason received a Notice of Allowance from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
- The patent issue fee is due October 23, 2026, putting him on the final stretch toward receiving his patent.
The Henry Ford is supporting Jason by covering the patent issue fee, helping make that next milestone possible.
An inventor who keeps looking ahead
- Jason is now a mechanical engineering student at Johns Hopkins University, where he expects to graduate in May 2027.
- He has completed three internships with Amazon, working on hardware and emerging technologies including humanoid robots.
- His interests have expanded into robotic haptics, control and sensing, but his motivation remains the same. “When something is not working the way it should, I want to find out whether I can fix it.”
Jason will join the Invention Convention Worldwide alumni community and will be invited back to the RTX Invention Convention U.S. Nationals event to share his story with other young inventors.
His journey is a reminder that invention can start with something very simple: curiosity. A student notices a problem, asks a question, builds an idea, learns from failure and keeps going.
For Jason, the patent will not be the finish line.
“Receiving the patent isn’t the finish line for me,” he said. “It was the moment I realized the roots had finally set firm. The tree still must grow, and I want to keep growing with it.”
Explore Jason’s Invention Journey
- Ames Tribune: “Ames High School inventor wins national honor for innovative whiteboard”
- Ames Community School District: “Ames student inventor inspired by Iron Man and not afraid to fail wins national recognition”
- Watch Jason’s invention story on YouTube
- Explore the ARE Board patent application: US 2024/0165987 A1
Iowa Invention Convention is powered by the Jacobson Institute. Learn more about Iowa Invention Convention at www.iowainventionconvention.org and how you can get involved or support student inventors, like Jason.
