By Sabrina Pickett
Staff Writer
While most kids spend their free time hanging out with friends or playing computer games, 13-year-old Manhattan Beach Middle School student, Thomas Suarez, creates his own applications for the iPhone, iTouch, and iPad.
When he was in third grade, Suarez started his own company titled CarrotCorp. Initially Suarez and a group of friends wanted a company so they could design and create technology. Recently, CarrotCorp has been venturing into apps.
“Since I can remember, I’ve always been interested in all sorts of technology, software, hardware, computer science, movie making, programming, and electronics,” Suarez said. “I’ve always found technology interesting and there is just so much you can do with it.”
At only nine years old, Suarez downloaded iOS Developer ToolKit and simulation tool and started coding his first app Earth Fortune. This led to the creation of Bustin Jieber, Suarez’s self-made app, which could be considered a type of “Justin Bieber whack-a-mole.”
“I don’t like to use templates, so I programmed both Earth Fortune and Bustin Jieber from scratch,” Suarez said. “Earth Fortune is actually not on the app store right now because I’m in the process of revamping it hopefully Earth Fortune 2.0 will be up this year.”
In 2011, Suarez was invited to give a TEDTalk at the Manhattan Beach conference. Suarez spoke about what he does as a programmer and that in the future he would like to program apps for the Android and continue the app club he started in Manhattan Beach.
“I first got involved with TEDx through Eric Johnson who started the advertising company Ignited,” Suarez said. “He does a lot of work for TEDx and he’s been a big help to me as well.”
Suarez started his own club called App City. The first meeting will be held this month. The group will be meeting on Fridays at Ignited in Manhattan Beach. The purpose of App City is to help kids who are interested in making apps to learn how to program and develop.
“A lot of kids are interested in making apps but they don’t know how or where to go to learn so App City is going to be a place where they can go to learn just that,” Suarez said.”
Craig Hatkoff, co-founder of the Tribeca film festival, awarded Suarez for his work with the Disruptive Innovation Award in 2012 and asked Suarez to make a design for the festival using a 3D printer called the MakerBot.
“I first saw the MakerBots at the Consumer Electronic Show that I went to in 2011 and I just couldn’t stop talking about them so when Craig asked me to make a design for the festival I was extremely excited,” Suarez said. “I designed the Tribeca Box, a 3D image of a box with a bunch of different electronics inside of it.”
More information about Suarez and his apps can soon be found at www.carrotcorp.com, and news updates can be found on the CarrotCorp twitter page.
“I think programming and coding apps are really fun even though I come across many frustrations,” Suarez said. “Sometimes I’ll be working on a bug for two weeks, and at 11 p.m. I’ll finally get the bug fixed and it might have 40 errors, but it’s ok because it gives me motivation to keep going because
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