Recently, students met a 16-year-old inventor Gitanjali Rao in a Global Campus event. Our students got to hear some great advice and asked many thoughtful questions. Next, they will be helping test the ‘Kindly’ software she’s developing with UNICEF to prevent cyberbullying. 

Gitanjali Rao is an inventor, an aspiring scientist, author, speaker and an active promoter of STEM around the world. She was recognized as America’s Top Young Scientist and was a recipient of an EPA Presidential award for her invention of an innovative lead contamination detection tool. Gitanjali is also the inventor of “Epione”—a device for early diagnosis of prescription opioid addiction using genetic engineering, and “Kindly”—an anti-cyberbullying service using AI and Natural Language processing.

She was honored as Forbes “30 Under 30 in Science” in 2019 and TIME’s “Top Young Innovator” and “TIME Kid of the Year” for her innovations and STEM workshops she conducts globally, which has inspired over 56,000 students in the last two years across six continents and 33 countries. She often presents in global and corporate forums on innovation and the importance of STEM.

Gitanjali is the author of the book “Young Innovator’s Guide to STEM“, which guides students, educators, or teachers through a self-developed prescriptive 5 step innovation process. She was honored as one of America’s Top Youth Volunteers by Prudential in 2021 and was appointed as a UNICEF Youth Advocate for using science for solving social problems such as cyber-bullying and developing solutions for environmental protection.

Written by Preeti Sahu – Shaping Brands and Inspiring Connections