Young Scientist Gitanjali Rao

At just twelve years old and in seventh grade, Gitanjali Rao earned the title of America’s Top Young Scientist in 2017 after developing "Tethys," the fastest scientific method for detecting water pollution levels. People were amazed by young Gitanjali Rao’s extraordinary scientific talent and inventive spirit. But her journey in scientific innovation was only beginning. In 2019, as a ninth grader, she invented "Epione," a method to detect drug addiction levels. By 2021, Gitanjali had secured an American patent for "Tethys." During the COVID-19 pandemic, she developed "Kindly," a mobile app designed to reduce cyberbullying and online harassment. This app uses artificial intelligence to help replace hateful words in online messages. Currently, UNICEF has taken on the task of enhancing and promoting Gitanjali’s app globally. During the pandemic, to inspire interest in science among teens worldwide—especially in developing countries—Gitanjali launched online classes. Today, over 90,000 students from various countries participate in her free online classes. In 2020, Gitanjali earned the prestigious title of TIME Magazine’s “Kid of the Year,” landing her on the magazine’s cover. In 2023, she was honoured with the "Girls Leading Change" award from the U.S. President's office. Now, at seventeen, Gitanjali has enrolled at the renowned MIT.

Gitanjali Rao

The couple Bharathi Rao and Ram Rao came to America from India with dreams of greater achievements and a better life, much like other immigrants. Their jobs took them from one state to another, but despite their hard work, their focus remained on raising their children to think broadly and develop compassion. Their first child, Gitanjali, was born in Columbus, Ohio, in 2005, followed a few years later by their second child, Anirudh. They created a home environment that encouraged empathy and problem-solving from an early age, alongside formal education.

When Gitanjali was three, her mother took her along to visit a sick friend in a nursing home. Seeing everyone feeling down, Gitanjali asked her mother how to make them happy. Her mother suggested that music could uplift spirits. This sparked Gitanjali’s journey of learning the piano—not for her own joy, but to bring happiness to others. Since then, her philosophy has been cantered on alleviating others' hardships. Starting a year later, she began playing the piano at the nursing home every week to try to cheer people up, and eventually, her younger brother joined her with the violin.

In their home, family dinners often included watching the news together. Gitanjali’s parents would encourage the children to think of ways to solve the issues discussed on TV, inspiring them to face problems head-on rather than avoid them. Even in their playtime, they tried brainstorming solutions to issues like food scarcity, clean water access, and housing problems. Scientific magazines were regularly purchased for their home, and Gitanjali avidly followed the latest developments in technology. From a young age, she understood that science could improve lives swiftly, which is why she started thinking about solving big problems through modern technology. By the age of five, she imagined solving everything with robots and drones.

In the U.S., there are many competitions to nurture children’s talents. One such contest, “READiness Freedom to Read,” allows children to submit their thoughts on books they’ve read. At age seven, Gitanjali participated in this essay competition and won second place, impressing the judges with her writing skills. The contest organizer, Jennifer Hartsell Stockdale, encouraged her to explore different types of writing and arranged for her to attend workshops. During a creative writing workshop over summer break, Gitanjali wrote a book about her younger brother Anirudh’s fascination with spiders, titled Baby Brother Wonders. She even illustrated it herself. The book won second place in a PBS Kids competition and was published in 2015.

Gitanjali's first published book

Seeing Gitanjali’s passion for science and technology, mentor Jennifer Stockdale enrolled her in the 4-H STEM Fun Class. 4-H is America’s largest organization dedicated to enhancing the talents and skills of youth, providing regular practice opportunities to over six million children and teens across the nation. The name "4-H" stands for Head, Heart, Hands, and Health. At just nine years old, Gitanjali eagerly learned hands-on techniques for using scientific tools in these fun classes.

Jennifer’s father, an electrician, personally taught Gitanjali the workings of electrical devices and how to make electronic connections. Soon after, Gitanjali began using these skills to develop new technologies.

Gitanjali and Lauren (Jennifer's daughter) with Jennifer Stockdale

In 2014, the city of Flint, Michigan, experienced water contamination issues. Due to technical flaws in the water purification and distribution system, excessive levels of lead and bacteria were found in the drinking water, causing widespread fear. Seeing the news and learning about the potential dangers of lead and bacteria in water made Gitanjali feel sad. Access to clean water is a basic human right. Gitanjali’s father tested their own household water for lead, but she noticed that the testing device took a long time to deliver results. This led Gitanjali to think about ways to purify water faster or quickly test water quality.

Gitanjali devoted all her focus to inventing something new. She remembered reading in her science textbook that some beneficial bacteria consume harmful ones. She wondered if releasing such bacteria into water could eliminate the lead. But this wouldn’t fully solve the issue, as bacteria would still remain in the water. In 2015, Gitanjali came across the MIT Technology Review, where she first read about carbon nanotubes. MIT scientists had developed a way to detect toxins in food using carbon nanotubes. When food spoils, it emits gases, which the carbon nanotubes can detect, the more spoilage, the more gas. Gitanjali wondered if carbon nanotubes could also detect lead levels in water. But as a ten-year-old, she knew very little about carbon nanotubes—so what could she do?

During her time in the 4-H STEM Fun Class, Gitanjali had heard about the Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge, organized by 3M, the United States' largest research and manufacturing company. Founded in 1902 as the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, 3M has since grown to operate over 200 subsidiaries in 70 countries. With a hundred years of contributions to scientific innovation, 3M holds patents for hundreds of thousands of inventions. To harness young, innovative talent from around the world, 3M hosts the Young Scientist Challenge every year. Participants submit a 1–2-minute video explaining their invention, how it works, its applications, and how it addresses an everyday issue.

Gitanjali created a video explaining her idea for a device to measure water contamination levels and submitted it to the 3M Challenge. She named her device “Tethys,” after the Greek goddess of pure water.

Gitanjali began working on the prototype for her device. She still hadn’t obtained effective carbon nanotubes despite emailing professors and chemical companies, as her emails didn’t seem significant coming from an eleven-year-old. But Gitanjali wasn’t one to give up. She watched YouTube videos to learn how microcontrollers work. She figured that if carbon nanotubes could detect lead in water, resistance would increase, reducing the current. This signal could then be sent to a mobile app via a microcontroller. Still, the carbon nanotubes remained unavailable.

Gitanjali didn’t let herself feel discouraged, believing any problem could be solved with persistence. At that time, she received a call from 3M: her Tethys project was selected as a finalist from over 500 entries. Not only that, but 3M arranged full support to help her develop a functional prototype. Dr. Kathleen Shaffer, a scientist from 3M’s Corporate Material Research Laboratory, took on the responsibility of guiding Gitanjali’s scientific work.

Gitanjali and her mentor, Dr. Kathleen Shaffer

By this time, Gitanjali’s family had moved to Colorado. Her new school there had a 3D printer, which she used to create a cover for Tethys. With Dr. Shaffer’s assistance, she acquired special chloride-coated carbon nanotubes from a company in Vermont, which could detect lead in water. After a year of persistent effort, Gitanjali successfully created a fully functional Tethys device.

Tethys prototype

In 2017, Gitanjali's Tethys invention surpassed all others, earning the title of Best Invention. At just twelve years old, Gitanjali Rao was recognized as America’s Top Young Inventor and received a $25,000 prize from 3M. A patent application was filed, and in 2021, Gitanjali’s Tethys was granted a U.S. patent, numbered 11085907.

Gitanjali receiving patent certificate

After winning the award as America’s Top Young Inventor, Gitanjali Rao became famous, inspiring young people around the world. She became a prominent role model for aspiring youth in various countries. The world-renowned Marvel Comics even featured Gitanjali as the subject of the first book in their Marvel Hero series.

The first book of the Marvel Hero Project – Genius Gitanjali

In 2020, the world-renowned Time magazine introduced the "Kid of the Year" award, a new initiative to recognize the efforts and achievements of children in areas like education, science, and social problem-solving. The American Patent Office nominated Gitanjali Rao for this competition. Selected from over 5,000 nominees, Gitanjali won the title of Kid of the Year 2020. For Time magazine, Oscar-winning actress and UN special envoy Angelina Jolie conducted an exclusive interview with her.

Gitanjali Rao on the cover of Time magazine

Although Flint’s water contamination issue was resolved, many countries around the world still lack access to clean water, where Gitanjali’s invention has proven valuable. After Tethys, Gitanjali began a new project aimed at treating addiction to painkillers. She noticed that some people become addicted to morphine-like medications used in medical treatment. Through her research, she learned that this addiction can be linked to mutations in the body’s opioid receptor genes. Gitanjali had the idea to create a device that could easily measure this addiction level. However, she was not yet familiar with how gene mutations occur, as she was only in eighth grade. Fortunately, many American professors are committed to supporting young talent, and Dr. Michael McMurray, a professor of cell biology at the University of Colorado, stepped in to help. He provided Gitanjali with the opportunity to conduct research in his university lab to turn her idea into an invention.

Gitanjali in the laboratory at Colorado State University

While balancing her school studies, Gitanjali conducted research in a university lab and developed a device called "Epione" to measure opioid drug addiction. She named the device after the Greek goddess of pain relief, Epione. The device operates using a straightforward method: by analysing fungal gene images with a spectrophotometer, Gitanjali demonstrated that addiction-related gene mutations lead to increased protein levels in cells, which cause their colour to darken compared to normal. However, without testing human DNA, there was no way to ensure that her Epione device was functioning correctly. Just as this method was being developed, the world was struck by the COVID pandemic.

During the pandemic, Gitanjali created a mobile app called "Kindly" to combat online bullying. Utilizing artificial intelligence, her app can identify abusive language in online messages and suggest more positive alternatives. UNICEF has embraced Gitanjali’s app and is now working to make it accessible to everyone.

Gitanjali speaks out against cyberbullying

After being recognized as the best young inventor, Gitanjali Rao became a source of inspiration for children and teenagers around the world who wanted to learn how to start scientific research. She began holding regular online sessions to engage with them, and her classes now attract over 80,000 students from various countries, practicing scientific research. To manage this influx of students, Gitanjali has published two books. In 2022, she released Young Innovators Guide to STEM, followed by Young Innovators Guide to Planning for Success, which was published recently.

Gitanjali has also donated her books and furniture to several impoverished countries in Africa, enabling them to embark on their own scientific research journeys. Her efforts exemplify her commitment to empowering the next generation of innovators and scientists worldwide.

Gitanjali's 2nd book

Gitanjali's 3rd book

In 2021, Gitanjali Rao received the Young Explorer Award from National Geographic. She used the prize money to establish a science research laboratory at a school in Kenya, where students are learning how to solve problems, think innovatively, and implement their ideas.

Ever since developing a passion for science, Gitanjali dreamed of studying at MIT. In 2022, at only 17 years old, she began her studies there, majoring in Biological Engineering with a minor in Entrepreneurship.

Numerous organizations in the United States are dedicated to recognizing and nurturing emerging talents like Gitanjali, providing the support necessary for intellectual development. Recently, Gitanjali received special recognition from the President's Office, where First Lady Jill Biden invited her to the White House to present the "Girls Leading Change" award. This honour highlights Gitanjali's impactful contributions and serves as an inspiration for young innovators worldwide.

Gitanjali with First Lady Jill Biden

Gitanjali's interests extend beyond scientific research; after turning eighteen, she earned her aviation license and began flying small airplanes. As a talented MIT student, the scientific community eagerly awaits her future innovations and contributions.

References:

1. Lauren Saracino & Manjit Thapa, Registers, Ren & Rook, London, 2019.
2. Gitanjali Rao Official Website
3. Time Magazine: Kid of the Year 2020
4. 3M Official Website
5. United States Patent and Trademark Office
6. MIT Official Website
7. UNICEF Innovation: Kindly