Amanda Nepo is an inventor, designer, and problem-solver studying at USC's Iovine and Young Academy, majoring in Arts, Technology, and the Business of Innovation.

It all started at age 10, when a curious kid looked up "how to do a magic trick" on YouTube. That curiosity snowballed, and by 14, Amanda became the youngest magic creator with Penguin Magic, signing a deal to sell her first original trick. At 16, she fooled Penn & Teller on their world-famous TV show Penn & Teller: Fool Us, making her one of the youngest foolers in the show's history. She performs regularly at The Magic Castle. And she lectures about her creative process at magic conventions worldwide, including her debut at Blackpool 2023, and most recently for graduate classes at USC.

What began as curiosity developed into a process: breaking down seemingly impossible ideas and figuring out how to make them real. That same mindset now drives her work across physical product design, special effects, immersive experiences, and emerging technology.

She has intentionally built a broad toolkit spanning woodworking, metalworking, fabrication, UI/UX, and experience design, with the goal of having the right tools to bring any vision to life.

Amanda thrives in solving the unsolved. Today, Amanda is focused on product design and experience design.