If you live, work, or just spend time in any city with a subway system, you probably know the frustration of not receiving service on your new or refurbished cell phone while you’re on the train. Well Alexander Kendrick, a 16-year old from New Mexico, may have developed a solution to the problem.

Kendrick won the 2009 International Science Fair by creating a low frequency radio that is capable of sending messages through hundreds of feet of rock. His radio reportedly sent a message to his father from 1,000 feet below sea level. According to Switched, “The feat marked the deepest known digital communication ever achieved in the United States.”

The 16 year old developed the radio to save the lives of people injured working/exploring in underground caves but if the technology can be reduced in size, it could mean an end to that “no signal” on your daily commute.