A Tribute from Marie Curien Admirer

SHARIF HAMZA FOR TIME VIA AP

Gitanjali Rao, who was chosen as the Kid of The Year by Time magazine\'s December 14 issue, 2020.

Although her parents always supported her, they laughed when Gitanjali Rao (15) expressed her desire to research the use of carbon nanotubes. Accustomed to reading scientific information from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and other sources of information, she has not stopped winning awards since 2017.

On December 4, 2020, after beating at least 5,000 students, Rao was named "Kid of The Year" by Time magazine. Previously, Time only had "Person of The Year".

"Our generation is facing various problems that have never existed before. On the other hand, we also face old problems. We are in the midst of a new global pandemic and we are still facing human rights issues,” said the girl whose name means “a tribute song ”in an interview with Time.

She did question many things in life. One of the main questions she has had for the past few years was how to make everyone smile. The question prompted her to seek solutions to various problems.

Our generation is facing various problems that have never existed before.

She regularly reads MIT Tech Reviews as well as a number of other sources related to science and technology. Her father and mother, Ram and Bharati, helped Rao understand the various information. As engineers, Bharati and Ram can help their children understand complex problems in simple terms. Together with Bharati, Rao discussed the news about the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, the accident that happened to the Malaysian Airlines airline, and the Zika virus.

Nanotechnology

Sometimes, Rao\'s question confused the mother. There were times when Rao asked about how to use carbon nanotubes to track lead in water, as was the case at Flint. Bharati was confused and laughed at the question raised by the 10-year-old elementary school student.

The ultra-small tube contains carbon atoms which are very sensitive to changes in chemical elements. Therefore, the tubes are suitable for tracking the chemical content in water. In the MIT Tech Review, it was written that the tube was made to detect dangerous gases. Rao thought of using it to check the content of lead, a compound that can cause various diseases when absorbed by the body.

She thought about that after her parents tried to check the lead content in the water supply in their house. For Gitanjali Rao, the methods used by his mother and father were complicated and expensive, making it difficult for the average person to use.

After various experiments, Rao produced Tethys, a box containing various sensors equipped with carbon nanotubes. The box can check the chemical content in water and send the results to an application on a cell phone. The name of the tool is taken from the names of the goddess of water in Greek mythology.

Tethys led her to win the Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge 2017. She could use the US$25,000 prize for the development of Tethys, which is expected to be mass produced in 2022.

Tethys is not the only Greek mythology figure who has led Rao to gain scientific recognition. Through Epione, the name of a nurse for the sick in Greek mythology, Rao won the 2018 TCS Ignite Innovation Student Challenge. The device helps detect symptoms of pain reliever addiction.

In that same year, she won the President\'s Environmental Youth Award (PEYA) from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In 2019, she entered the "30 Under 30" list, a list of 30 influential people in the world and is not yet 30 years old. The list was compiled by Forbes magazine.

That\'s what heroes mean to me.

Apart from being related to the environment, she also developed Kindly, an application to track the early symptoms of cyberbullying. She lists a number of words that can be used as early clues to bullying. Through this application, she invites teenagers to think again before sending emails or social media posts that may be deemed as bullying.

Gitanjali calls her parents heroes who have made it possible for her to be interested in technology. She also admires Marie Curie, the Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry and Physics from Poland. She admired Curie because she always put others before himself. "That\'s what heroes mean to me," said Gitanjali.

She also doesn\'t want to just create something to solve a problem. More than that, she hopes that other people can do something similar. Because of this, she formed joint study groups involving 30,000 students from many countries. (AP / REUTERS)

Gitanjali Rao

DOB: 24 November 2005

Parents: Ram and Bharati Rao

Awards (among others):

- Kid of The Year (2020)

- Forbes ”30 Under 30” (2019)

- President’s Environmental Youth Award (2018)

- Daily Point of Light Award (2018)

- Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge (2017)