9-year-old N.B. student’s Google doodle for Canada 150 catches eye of Google Canada

A 9-year-old boy from Lower Coverdale, N.B. has been put on Google’s map, so to speak.

Grade 4 student, Wesley Babin, is one of only 12 finalists in a nationwide “Doodle for Google” competition that just might have his creation featured on google.ca for a day.

“I was really excited,” Babin told Global News.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I was really excited," Babin told Global News.

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Maria Cortellucci from Google Canada said they were blown away by Babin’s 3D metal sculpture that is made from bicycle gears and metal gadgets he found around the house.

“His was one of the few 3D sculptures that we got as a submission and it was really really cool,” she said.

Cortellucci said more than 11,000 students in grades K to 12 from across the country entered the nationwide competition.  Students were asked to redesign the Google logo to celebrate Canada’s 150th birthday.

Wesley, who wants to be a mechanical engineer someday, said his sculpture is called “A Mechanical Canada” and represents what he sees as Canada’s future in technology.

“I would love to have robots to help people, like if you are paralyzed to help people walk,” Babin said.

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His mother, Denise, said for the past few years her son has been gathering up pieces of old toys, metal gadgets and gears to create his “inventions.”

“He’ll take old toys and he will just break them apart and see how they move and then he will try to do something similar but in his own way,” she said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "He'll take old toys and he will just break them apart and see how they move and then he will try to do something similar but in his own way," she said.

Denise said his creative wheels never stop turning, “he has always been creative ever since he was very, very little.”

“I just find little metal pieces and I just come up with building stuff,” Babin said.

Babin said he is inspired by his parents who both dabble in the creative themselves.  His mother loves to paint and sculpt using copper wire and his father is a machinist with a whole collection of gadgets tucked away in his basement.

“When my dad does not know, I just go downstairs and steal stuff” said Babin, who snagged a few trinkets from his dad’s workshop to create his 3D google sculpture

“I just thought, ‘oh that looks like a letter, that looks like a G, that looks like an E,” he said.

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The winning designer, to be chosen in early June, will receive a $10,000 scholarship and a $10,000 technology award for his or her school and the winning design will also be featured on google.ca for a day.

“I would be extremely amazed if I won,” Babin said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I would be extremely amazed if I won," Babin said.

But in his mother’s eyes, “he is a winner already.”