By Sisanda Mgojo
A young visionary is a driving force behind creativity and innovation in the vibrant city of Durban.
Keanu Rust, 21, has made significant strides in pursuing his childhood dream of becoming a superhero in Marvel comic books. Rust, inspired by Tony Stark, creates robotic suits that resemble Marvel characters such as Black Panther, Thor and Iron Man, to display their bravery and strength.
To pay homage to the Stark Industries comic book counterpart, he has named his company Rust Industries.
Rust said that his early fascination with Marvel superheroes led him to connect with Stark’s combination of bravery, intelligence and technological prowess.
He expressed his desire to use his skills and creativity to improve the world. “Tony Stark was more than just a superhero. He represented the potential of human inventiveness. That gave me the motivation to investigate the potential of technology. Marvel has always been very close to my heart since I was a little kid, especially when the first Iron Man film was released. The second I saw it, I knew that this is what I would become one day as Stark uses his inventions to make the world a better place, so I intend to do the same thing, starting with the suit.”
He has been exhibiting his suits for years, but he decided recently to turn his skills and talents into a business.
”The biggest challenge I faced (was) funds. I have saved up most of my salary each month to put the suit together. Luckily, at the time that I was working on the suit I was able to use the machines they had to manufacture the parts, but even still, the materials alone are very expensive, so it took me a while to get it all done,” he said.
Despite facing challenges, he expressed his motivation from the outcomes of his inventions.
“It started with making the frame that would attach to my body. Once that was done, it started coming together. I proceeded to design, then and mount all of the various parts and armour panels on top of that, and finally. Once it was all complete and painted, I was proud of all the hard work that went into it,” he added.
Explaining the manufacturing process of his invention, Rust said: “The prototype is constructed out of a combination of aluminium and carbon fibre, but the final suit will be made out of weapons-grade titanium and Kevlar material. Each forearm has a fully functional gun attached to it, which was also made from scratch, as well as a handmade Gatling gun mounted on the shoulder. The weapons are capable of firing real 9mm bullets, and there is also a flashlight in the shoulder to assist in dark environments, as well as spare magazines for the arm guns stored in the thighs. Everything is wireless and battery-powered technology.”
Rust concluded that all of his time and effort are now being dedicated to making the suit a success.
