Ronald Nguyen is a young dental student at the University of Southern California. Ron started with a common phrase, "why can't they make this better?" As a true innovator, he pursued his idea and successfully developed a new dental product, the Feather Light.

Persistence drove Ron to be self taught in the field of electronics and manufacturing, which is a far cry from his background in biology. Spending his day working on his dental degree, Ron dedicated the nights and weekends pursuing the product's development. He quickly developed the product and company and churned a sizable profit in the very first month of the product's launch.

Anything is possible, he comments, "I worked outside of my area of expertise. I started with no knowledge in electronics, or even the slightest idea where to begin. But what I start with was all that I needed: a dream, persistence and motivation that pulled me through the toughest times and lead to my success."

Ron answered a few questions for us about the Feather Light, here is what he had to say:

Help us understand what you are up to (Describe your work / research):
Feather Light is the product that my company, Ultralight Optix, manufactures. It incorporates cutting edge technologies to produce an incredibly small and powerful headlight that's used in conjunction with surgical magnifying glasses to significantly improve the quality of surgery and dentistry. It's comparable to a white laser beam.

www.ultralightoptix.com

What drives you to continue pursuing this start-up?
The people I work with share the same passion and dedication that I have. We have a strong network and see the potential for growth and development.

Describe how your work might impact people's lives, now and in the future. (What's the potential societal impact?)
The action of creating Feather Light has the biggest impact. Everyone has ground breaking ideas, but what sets me apart is that I acted on my idea. My success has shown that students have the same potential to be as inventive as their faculty counterparts. There is now a rise of budding innovators in the dental school who have listened to my story and have found motivation to pursue their own projects. My legacy in the school will be my inventive successors.

How did you come up with the idea?
I surpassed the boundaries of traditional dentistry by pioneering ambidextrous dentistry. Subsequently, from this experience, I saw the necessity of having a direct light source that followed the dynamic path of the high speed drill because the angulations of holding the drill with one hand is different from the other. I immediately realized the product's potential and implications during the first prototype and pursued its development into a marketable product.

Has anyone ever doubted that your idea could work? (Please elaborate.)
If there was any doubt, it was quickly consumed with overwhelming support from faculty, students and especially close friends and family (special thanks to 3D Machining Enterprises). I received valuable feedback directly from the customer and integrated their improvements into the product during its design. That is what makes the product so advanced and that is the most valuable asset my company has.

What is the next step in the innovation process for you (and how might people help)?
I have plans set in motion to expand into different dental products. But for now, I'm trying to invent a way to successfully juggle my business and become a doctor at the same time.

What would people be surprised to learn about you?
I incorporated 1 day prior to my 25^th birthday just to say I became a CEO at the age of 24.

What do you wish you would have invented?
My product: Feather Light. I got my wish

Any tips for aspiring innovators?
Key factors to success:

• Persistence and motivation gets me through the day.
• Surround yourself with people who share the same dedication and vision that you have.
• Make every day a productive day.