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What can a 16-year-old do, you ask? While most teens at 16 can barely cope with their raging hormones, struggling to figure out their biology, Gitanjali Rao is changing the world. One innovation at a time. If you still haven't heard about this young girl genius, pay close attention to this article as you are in for a treat.
Who is Gitanjali Rao?
She is an American of Indian origin.Gitanjali got particularly famous as the 12-year-old-kid who invented a device to detect lead in water. Some may have thought she was a one-time wonder. However, Gitanjali is a bag full of never-ending ideas that will change the world and make it a better place.
Classical dance Kathak, swimming, baking, writing, fencing, playing piano and fitness are some of her interests. She is studying to get her pilot's licence. Rao has also spoken about pursuing further studies in Epidemiology and Genetics. Gitanjali Rao is also a scientist, coder, mentor, inventor, engineer, author, and most importantly, a ray of hope that Earth deserves. She
Awards and Recognitions
Although there is an even longer list of all the awards recognition Rao has won, here are some popular ones.
- In 2017, Gitanjali won the Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge for her innovation of Tethys. Based on MIT's App Inventor platform, Tethys is Bluetooth enabled device with carbon nanotubes and a 9V battery. It detects the presence of lead in water. She won a total of 50,000 dollars for this invention at two different forums to develop a prototype.
- Later in 2017, she made headlines when her name was included on the Forbes 30 under 30 List.
- In 2018, Gitanjali was even given the prestigious President's Environmental Youth Award by the United States Environmental Protection Agency's.
- Fast forward to the year 2020. Gitanjali started "innovation workshops" where she would collaborate, mentor and share ideas with students from across the globe to solve World problems. She has already mentored 30,000 young minds who have ideas to make this world a better place. This got her named TIMETop Young Innovator - 2020.
- In December 2020, she was chosen from a pool of 5000 brightest young minds and earned her place on the cover of TIME. Rao was dubbed the TIMEKid of the Year 2020. She was the first one to ever win this title.
- More recently, in November 2021, this bright young mind was awarded as a Laureate of the Young Activists Summit held at United Nations, Geneva.
- After her UN feat, she was awarded Spotlight Of The Year at Women of The Year 2021 by Vogue.
Rao's Ideas to Solve World Problems
Rao has been a TEDx speaker 3 times and has talked about various topics, including her invention and problem solving for innovators. To fight prescribed opioid addiction, Gitanjali developed a tool called Epione. Being aware of the global problem of cyberbullying, she has even created 'Kindly'. This app which is also a Google extension helps teenagers. The App's AI has been hardcoded with words by Gitanjali that amount to bullying. Unaware teens can avoid saying harsh things, and avoid unknowingly becoming bullies using this app.
Gitanjali really cares about the world, which is evident in all her creations. She is a brilliant example of how determination and hard work can break stereotypes of age, gender, race, nationality and resources. If you, too, have an idea that can revolutionise/impact India's rural development or solve a global problem, please pursue your dream. Who knows, you could be the next Gitanjali Rao.