Gitanjali Rao (scientist)

Gitanjali Rao (born 2005) is an American inventor. She won the Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge in 2017.

Early life

Gitanjali is from Lone Tree, Colorado. Her parents regularly take her to museums.[1] She attends the STEM School Highlands Ranch.[2] She wants to study genetics and epidemiology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.[3][4][5] She has spoken up about the gender pay gap.[6]

Career

Gitanjali heard about the Flint water crisis while watching the news.[7][8][9] 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.[10] Rao collaborated with a research scientist at 3M.[11] In 2017 Rao won the Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge and was awarded $25,000 for her invention, Tethys.[3][12][13] Tethys contains a 9-volt battery, a lead sensing unit, a bluetooth extension and a processor.[3] It uses carbon nanotubes, whose resistance changes in the presence of lead.[2][14] She learned about the carbon nanotubes while reading the Massachusetts Institute of Technology website.[15] She plans to work with scientists and medical professionals to investigate the potential of Tethys as a viable method.[16] She presented her idea at the 2018 MAKERS conference and raised a further $25,000.[17] As of January 2019, she was working with the Denver water facility and hopes to have a prototype in the next two years. [18]

She is a 3-time TEDx Speaker.[19] In September 2018 Rao was awarded the United States Environmental Protection Agency President’s Environmental Youth Award.[20]

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.[21]

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.[22]

gollark: I don't know what specifically "Lagrangian mechanics" is used for, I assume it's for modelling some things in physics/maths.
gollark: Anyway, you can obviously learn stuff on your own (well, I guess mostly not some physical skills and stuff), it just might be harder. You need good explanations and many practice questions.
gollark: …
gollark: Isn't that, well, constantly changing?
gollark: for some weak nuclear force interactions.

References
  1. "Stemming the leak: 4 ways to encourage STEM in your middle..." www.wsls.com. Retrieved 2018-10-23.
  2. Prisco, Jacopo (February 15, 2018). "Gitanjali Rao wants to make polluted water safer with lead detection system". CNN. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
  3. "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.
  4. "What teachers can learn from America's top young scientist, 12-year-old Gitanjali Rao". Retrieved 2018-10-23.
  5. "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.
  6. The Female Quotient (2018-04-10), Young Scientist Gitanjali Rao On Closing the Wage Gap, retrieved 2018-10-23
  7. "Finding Solutions to Real Problems: An Interview With Gitanjali Rao - Rookie". Rookie. 2018-01-11. Retrieved 2018-10-23.
  8. Ryan, Lisa. "11-Year-Old Creates Lead-Detection Device to Help With Flint Water Crisis". The Cut. Retrieved 2018-10-23.
  9. "Testing the Waters". sn56.scholastic.com. Retrieved 2018-10-23.
  10. The Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge (2017-07-18), 2017 National Finalist: Gitanjali Rao, retrieved 2018-10-23
  11. "Dr. Kathleen Shafer | Young Scientist Lab". www.youngscientistlab.com. Retrieved 2018-10-23.
  12. "The 12 year old inventor protecting your drinking water". BBC. Retrieved 2018-10-23.
  13. 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.
  14. Great Big Story (2018-03-08), This 12-Year-Old Scientist is Taking On Flint's Water Crisis, retrieved 2018-10-23
  15. "This 11-Year-Old Invented A Cheap Test Kit For Lead In Drinking Water". Fast Company. 2017-07-13. Retrieved 2018-10-23.
  16. 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.
  17. "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.
  18. "13-Year-Old Gitanjali Rao's Lead Detecting Invention Lands Her On Forbes' '30 Under 30'". CPR. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  19. 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
  20. "Girl Genius: This 12-year-old just invented device to detect lead in water". h2oradio.org. Retrieved 2018-10-23.
  21. "STEM School student receives another national award for an invention". FOX31 Denver. 2019-07-23. Retrieved 2019-08-11.
  22. ""To Dine for with Kate Sullivan: Gitanjali Rao, Inventor". KCET.org. Retrieved 2020-06-21.
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