15-year-old Gitanjali Rao, selected from more than 5,000 nominees as Time’s first ‘Girl of the Year’, was chosen for her “amazing work” and her use of technology to address problems from contaminated drinking water to opioid addiction and cyberbullying.
Time said Rao, a sophomore at STEM School Highlands Ranch in Denver, Colorado, stood out for creating a global community of innovative youth and inspiring them to pursue their goals. Rao told The Associated Press in a Zoom interview from his home that the award is “nothing I could have imagined. And I am so grateful and so excited that we are really looking at the next generation and our generation as the future is in our hands. “
Here’s what you should know about the American Indian:
1. Rao developed a portable device to detect lead in water when he was 12 years old. She told Time actress, activist, and contributing editor Angelina Jolie in a Zoom interview that the drinking water crisis in Flint, Michigan inspired her work to develop a way to detect contaminants and send those results to a mobile phone.
2. “I was about 10 years old when I told my parents that I wanted to investigate carbon nanotube sensor technology at the Denver Water Quality Research Laboratory, and my mother said,” What? “Rao told Jolie. He said the job” is going to be in the hands of our generation very soon. So if no one else is going to do it, I will. ” Sensor technology involves molecules of carbon atoms that can detect chemical changes, including chemicals in water.
3. You have created Epione, a device that diagnoses prescription opioid addiction at an early stage.
4. He has also designed an app called Kindly that uses artificial intelligence to help prevent cyberbullying. It allows teens to type a word or phrase to find out if the words they are using are bullying and allows them to decide to edit what they are sending or continue.
5. Rao has partnered with rural schools; museums; science, technology, engineering and math organizations; and other institutions to hold innovation workshops for thousands of other students.
6. Appeared on the Marvel’s Hero Project web series as Genius Gitanjali for his valuable contributions to society. “I think being a scientist is like being a superhero, because superheroes save people and they want to do the best for their society; scientists do exactly the same thing, “he had previously told Google.
7. The high school student has been featured on the Forbes 30 under 30 list and has spoken at various TED events.
8. He also won the EPA Presidential Award, the 2020 George Stephenson Innovation Award, the 2019 Kumon Inspirational Student Award, the TCS Ignite Innovation Top Health Pillar Award, among others.
9. She is also an author. His A Young Innovative Guide to STEM was published by Simon and Schuster in March of this year. He has also written Baby Brother Wonders about his younger brother’s curiosity.
10. Rao is also a baker. “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 it’s science too, ”he said when Jolie asked him if he did things that kids his age do.
(With contributions from the agency)
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