Ahmed Mohamed is VIP at Google Science Fair

Young scientists showed off projects that are finalists in the Google Science Fair on Monday.

But the teen who captured the most attention of all never even entered the competition.

Google's surprise guest was Ahmed Mohamed, the 14-year-old high school freshman from Irving, Tex., who made headlines last week when his homemade clock alarmed a teacher, getting him suspended from school and detained by police officers.

Mohamed visited the booths of finalists whose faces lit up when they recognized him. He also mingled with local students visiting the science fair being held on Google's campus in Mountain View, Calif. Exclaimed one student from Oakland, Calif.: "We learned about you in school!"

Mohamed even got to meet Google co-founder Sergey Brin.

Google puts on the science fair each year with the goal of inspiring scientific curiosity and exploration among young people. The theme this year: "It's your turn to change the world."

"It's imperative for us to support and encourage our young people to explore and challenge the world around them through scientific discovery. Which is why we're especially glad that Ahmed Mohamed ... took us up on our invite to attend this year's event," said Mariette DiChristina, editor in chief of Scientific American and chief judge of the Google Science Fair, said in a blog post. "Curious young scientists, inventors and builders like him should be encouraged and empowered."

The hashtag #IStandwithAhmed took the Internet by storm as people questioned if this inventive teen who likes to tinker with electronics and dreams of attending MIT was targeted because of his name or religion.

Facebook, Google roll out welcome mat to Ahmed Mohamed

An overnight celebrity, Mohamed received an invitation from President Obama and will head to the White House next month for "Astronomy Night," an evening of stargazing with scientists, engineers and astronauts.

The invitations also poured in from Silicon Valley, where many identify with brainy, misunderstood outcasts and where initiative, inventiveness and ingenuity are prized. Mohamed has been asked to Facebook by Mark Zuckerberg and work at Twitter as an intern.

The one invitation he has accepted so far: To attend Google's fifth annual science fair.

Google wrote on Twitter: "Hey Ahmed- we're saving a seat for you at this weekend's Google Science Fair...want to come? Bring your clock!"
Mohamed replied: "Of course!" On Sunday he tweeted: "Going to Cali!!!"

Google says the science fair is among the world's largest.

Ninety regional finalists were culled from thousands of entries students in more than 100 countries submitted online. Of those, 20 global finalists were selected, nine of them girls.

Taking home the $50,000 grand prize was Olivia Hallisey, 16, from Connecticut. Moved by the lives lost in Africa to the Ebola outbreak in 2014, she devised a rapid, portable and inexpensive diagnostic test for the detection of the virus. Hallisey says she was inspired to become a scientist by her late grandfather, a doctor and medical researcher and one day hopes to work for a global health organization such as Doctors Without Borders.

Also receiving awards were Girish Kumar, 17 of Singapore, who came up with a way to automatically generate review questions for students from online textbooks; Krtin Nithiyanandam, 14 of Surrey, England, who designed a diagnostic tool to detect Alzheimer's at earlier stages in the disease; Pranav Sivakumar, 15 of Aurora, Illinois who invented an automated method for finding and characterizing gravitationally lensed quasars; Anurudh Ganesan, 15 of Clarksburg, Md., who designed a more reliable way to transport vaccines to remote locations in developing countries; Deepika Kurup, 17 of Nashua, NH, devised a filtration system to remove toxins from drinking water; Lalita Prasida Sripada Srisai, 13 from India, came up with an inexpensive way to clean waste water by flowing it through corn cobs; and Eliott Sarrey,14 from Maron, France, who built a robot that when controlled by a smartphone can tend vegetable gardens.

Follow USA TODAY senior technology writer Jessica Guynn@jguynn