A 17-year-old from the northeastern state of Tamaulipas is competing at an international science fair in Indonesia this week with a device she spent a year developing — a fire extinguisher that snuffs out small flames with sound instead of water or chemicals.

Ángela Karime Venegas Hernández is representing Mexico at the International Science and Invention Fair with Vortex Tech, a prototype developed with the help of her uncle, José Arturo Hernández Muñoz.

Angela Venegas, standing alongside her invention, is congratulated by Tamaulipas Education Minister Miguel Ángel Valdez García (Tamaulipas Education Ministry)

Her school, CETis 78 in Altamira, Tamaulipas, announced her participation in the fair being held this week at the University of Indonesia in Depok, near Jakarta.

Photographs shared by Mexico’s federal technical education agency showed Venegas wearing traditional Mexican clothing at the fair.

Venegas told the newspaper El País that a video of a large, roughly 4-meter (13-foot) sonic cannon extinguishing a flame — with air movement, not water or chemicals — inspired her to investigate whether she could build a smaller device.

She and her uncle, who holds a master’s degree in science, according to the Tamaulipas Education Ministry, spent about a year developing five prototypes, building on earlier experiments by others.

Just to create the first prototype — one that could extinguish a candle — took two months, not including preliminary research, she told the newspaper.

Vortex Tech uses a 12-volt battery, a frequency generator set to 30 hertz, an amplifier and a speaker. A modified bucket channels the output toward a flame.

According to Venegas’ explanation, the sound generates swirling rings of air that disrupt the oxygen supply sustaining combustion, extinguishing small flames within seconds.

The technology remains experimental. The newspaper El Universal reported that it works on small, nearby flames and does not replace conventional extinguishers for large fires.

Tamaulipas education officials said the project also includes thermal sensors designed to detect a developing fire and automatically activate the sound-based extinguishing system.

The state Education Ministry said Venegas advanced through regional, state and national competitions before qualifying for Indonesia. It also pledged support for her and her uncle/adviser’s participation.

With reports from El País, El Heraldo de México and El Universal