Erfan Nouraee, 21, said he was inspired to create his Photon Detector sensor at the age of 16 when he found out that half the world’s population is still offline.

He spent more than 700 hours building prototypes, and the teen, who is a student at York University in Toronto, now has a remotely-operated device that can detect the noise-to-signal ratio in fiber-optic communication to help make high-speed internet more accessible and affordable.

Aged 16, Nouraee won the 2016 Khwarizmi Youth Award with a device that can quantify the “emitted photoelectrons” of metal and measure the properties of electromagnetic radiation of particle acceleration – inspired by Albert Einstein’s photoelectric effect.

What was first developed for a school science fair quickly took off thanks to its innovative and thoughtful design.

Nouraee also co-founded ‘iMind’ Initiative Campaign to educate others about mental health and how to fight stigmas.

Through his work, Nouraee said he hopes to inspire people in his generation to use science and technology to help solve world’s problems.

He added: "I went on the internet and I found that a third of the world's population is still without access to high-speed internet. It was then that I knew I had to do something."

His creation has caught the attention of famous investors and manufacturers who have reached out to work with his start-up company.

Nouraee added that the invention was still under development – and that he had considered several other ways of making it work efficiently.