Gitanjali Rao (inventor)
Gitanjali Rao (born 2005) is an American inventor, author, scientist and a STEM promoter. She won the Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge in 2017. She was recognized as Forbes 30 U 30 for her innovations.[1] She was named TIME Top young innovator in 2020 for her innovations and "innovation workshops" she conducts across the globe.[2] On its December 4, 2020 cover, Time named Rao “Kid of the Year.”[3]
Early life
Gitanjali is from Lone Tree, Colorado. She attends the STEM School Highlands Ranch.[4] She wants to study genetics and epidemiology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.[5][6][7] She has spoken up about the gender pay gap.[8]
Career
Gitanjali heard about the Flint water crisis while watching the news.[9][10][11] She became interested in ways to measure the lead content in water. She developed a device based on carbon nanotubes that could send information via bluetooth.[12] Rao collaborated with a research scientist at 3M.[13] In 2017 Rao won the Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge and was awarded $25,000 for her invention, Tethys.[5][14][15] Tethys contains a 9-volt battery, a lead sensing unit, a bluetooth extension and a processor.[5] It uses carbon nanotubes, whose resistance changes in the presence of lead.[4][16] She learned about the carbon nanotubes while reading the Massachusetts Institute of Technology website.[17] She plans to work with scientists and medical professionals to investigate the potential of Tethys as a viable method.[18] She presented her idea at the 2018 MAKERS conference and raised a further $25,000.[19] As of January 2019, she was working with the Denver water facility and hopes to have a prototype in the next two years. [20]
She is a 3-time TEDx Speaker.[21] In September 2018 Rao was awarded the United States Environmental Protection Agency President’s Environmental Youth Award.[22]
Gitanjali was awarded the Top “Health” Pillar Prize for the TCS Ignite Innovation Student Challenge in May 2019 for developing a diagnostic tool based on advances in genetic engineering for early diagnosis of prescription opioid addiction.[23]
She is also an accomplished pianist. According to her mother, when Gitanjali was three years old she asked what she could do to help someone who was sick; playing music was suggested.[24]
She is a member of Scouts and has enrolled in the Scouting STEM program (Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) in the United States. [25]
Rao is the first person to receive TIME magazine's Kid of the Year designation. [26]
References
- ^ "Gitanjali Rao". Forbes.
- ^ "Seven Young Inventors Who See a Better Way". Time.
- ^ "Meet TIME's First-Ever Kid of the Year". Time. Retrieved 2020-12-04.
- ^ a b Prisco, Jacopo (February 15, 2018). "Gitanjali Rao wants to make polluted water safer with lead detection system". CNN. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
- ^ a b c "Lone Tree girl named America's Top Young Scientist after inventing lead-detecting sensor to help residents of Flint, Mich". The Denver Post. 2017-11-23. Retrieved 2018-10-23.
- ^ "What teachers can learn from America's top young scientist, 12-year-old Gitanjali Rao". Retrieved 2018-10-23.
- ^ "Indian American Gitanjali Rao is the winner of 2017 Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge". The American Bazaar. 2017-10-19. Retrieved 2018-10-23.
- ^ The Female Quotient (2018-04-10), Young Scientist Gitanjali Rao On Closing the Wage Gap, retrieved 2018-10-23
- ^ "Finding Solutions to Real Problems: An Interview With Gitanjali Rao - Rookie". Rookie. 2018-01-11. Retrieved 2018-10-23.
- ^ Ryan, Lisa. "11-Year-Old Creates Lead-Detection Device to Help With Flint Water Crisis". The Cut. Retrieved 2018-10-23.
- ^ "Testing the Waters". sn56.scholastic.com. Retrieved 2018-10-23.
- ^ The Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge (2017-07-18), 2017 National Finalist: Gitanjali Rao, retrieved 2018-10-23
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Dr. Kathleen Shafer | Young Scientist Lab". www.youngscientistlab.com. Retrieved 2018-10-23.
- ^ "The 12 year old inventor protecting your drinking water". BBC. Retrieved 2018-10-23.
- ^ News, ABC. "Video: Meet the 11-year-old who developed a new method of testing for lead in water". ABC News. Retrieved 2018-10-23.
{{cite web}}:|last=has generic name (help) - ^ Great Big Story (2018-03-08), This 12-Year-Old Scientist is Taking On Flint's Water Crisis, retrieved 2018-10-23
- ^ "This 11-Year-Old Invented A Cheap Test Kit For Lead In Drinking Water". Fast Company. 2017-07-13. Retrieved 2018-10-23.
- ^ Thorpe, JR. "This 11-Year-Old Girl Just Made An Amazing Innovation In How We Test For Lead, & Proved How Much Girls Rule In The Process". Bustle. Retrieved 2018-10-23.
- ^ "Gitanjali Rao, America's Top Young Scientist of 2017, Nabs Another $25,000 For Lead-Detection Invention". Archived from the original on 2018-10-24. Retrieved 2018-10-23.
- ^ "13-Year-Old Gitanjali Rao's Lead Detecting Invention Lands Her On Forbes' '30 Under 30'". CPR. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
- ^ TEDx Talks (2018-06-07), A 12-year-old inventor's device for detecting lead in water | Gitanjali Rao | TEDxNashville, retrieved 2018-10-23https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dn4SNdXqYBw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBEPYDLD3vg
- ^ "Girl Genius: This 12-year-old just invented device to detect lead in water". h2oradio.org. Retrieved 2018-10-23.
- ^ "STEM School student receives another national award for an invention". FOX31 Denver. 2019-07-23. Retrieved 2019-08-11.
- ^ ""To Dine for with Kate Sullivan: Gitanjali Rao, Inventor". KCET.org. Retrieved 2020-06-21.
- ^ "Living the Scout Life - STEM Scout Named Time's First-Ever Kid of the Year". www.scoutshop.org. Retrieved 2020-12-04.
- ^ "Meet TIME's First-Ever Kid of the Year". Time.
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