Updated: December 4, 2020 6:58:32 pm
Gitanjali Rao is an American Indian scientist and innovator. (Source: Time / Instagram)
Last year when Gitanjali rao appeared in Ted Talks: Nayi Baat, actor Shah Rukh Khan introduced her as: “She’s the winner of America’s best young scientist award, she’s in Forbes 2019’s ’30 under 30 ‘ [list], and it’s the brains behind not one or two or three, but six innovations. “
Rao has added to the credentials: The 15-year-old inventor and scientist has become the first Child of the Year on the cover of Time magazine. Rao, an American Indian from Denver, Colorado, was chosen from 5,000 nominees based in the United States.
Rao doesn’t look like your average brilliant scientist, and she is aware of this. “All I see on television is that he is an older man, usually white, as a scientist,” he says.
Home life
Rao’s parents, Bharathi and Ram Rao, are academically educated and supportive of his curiosity and intelligence, even though there have been incidents, such as the time when 10-year-old Rao declared to the family that he wanted to investigate sensor technology. of carbon nanotubes. at the Denver Water Quality Research Laboratory. 📣 Follow Express explained on Telegram
“My mom was like,” A what? ” she counts.
Inspired by problems
When Rao was in second or third grade, he began to think about using science and technology to bring about social change.
When I was in seventh grade, residents of Flint, Michigan, were battling a serious problem: a dangerous level of lead in their drinking water. He created a device, called Tethys, that uses carbon nanotubes to quickly detect lead compounds in water and sends the values of the water’s status (‘safe’, ‘slightly contaminated’ or ‘critical’) to a smartphone app.
The invention earned him the 2017 3M Discovery Education Young Scientist Challenge.
Then there’s Kindly, a Chrome app and extension that can detect cyberbullying at an early stage, based on artificial intelligence technology.
“I started hard-coding some words that could be considered bullying, and then my engine took those words and identified words that are similar. You type a word or phrase and it is able to pick up if it’s bullying and gives you the option to edit it or submit it as is. The goal is not to punish. When I was a teenager, I know that teenagers tend to lash out sometimes. Instead, it gives you the opportunity to rethink what you’re saying so you know what to do next time, ”Rao told Time actress and contributing editor Angelina Jolie in an interview for the magazine.
Another invention works with human genetics and can detect the growing problem of addiction to prescription drugs.
READ | Role model for my two daughters: Photographer who clicked on Gitanjali Rao for the cover of Time
“Approximately six million people in India have opioid use disorders, including prescription opioids. Many addicts start out as regular pain reliever users, but become drug addicts without even knowing it. Doctors are now trying to eliminate the amount of addictive pain relievers they prescribe.
“However, many people need opioids to control pain and end up with serious addictions. Also, doctors do not have an easy tool to diagnose opioid addiction at an early stage. The current tools that are used today are after the fact and are mainly based on self-awareness or the evaluation of behavior changes, ”he says.
So Rao decided to develop an easy-to-use, portable and efficient device called Epione that doctors can use to find out if their patients are in the onset of addiction.
Message for young people
Rao is a believer in the disciplines of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and works with schools, girls in STEM organizations, museums around the world, and larger organizations such as the Shanghai International Youth Science and Technology Group and the Royal Academy of Engineering in London to hold innovation workshops.
These weekly sessions have reached more than 28,000 elementary, middle and high school students globally with whom he has shared his process and tools. His message is: “Don’t try to solve every problem, just focus on one that excites you. If I can do it, anyone can do it. “
Apart from inventing
The young scientist is also adept at playing the piano, dancing and singing Indian classics, swimming, and fencing. He was nine when he began to learn classical music.
Rao told Jolie in the Time magazine interview: “Actually, I spend more time doing 15-year-old things during quarantine. I bake an ungodly quantity. It’s not good, but it’s baking. And, like, it’s science too … To be fair, most of the time we don’t have eggs at home, or we like flour, so I have to go online and look for egg-free, flour-free, sugar-free cookies, and then Do that. I made bread recently and it was good, so I’m proud of myself. “
What’s next for Rao?
In his Ted Talk: Nayi Baat, Rao had said: “In our minds, superheroes can jump tall buildings, have technological gadgets and super powers. But what do they have in common? The ability to save lives. And the magic is that they appear at exactly the right time to save a life. How are living and breathing scientists different from superheroes in comics? No matter where they are, scientists find solutions to help people. I love science and I want to be a scientific superhero solving real world problems and saving lives. “
So whenever he sees problems in society, Rao can be expected to be on a mission to solve them.
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