Gitanjali Rao

Young Indian-American inventor tackling global water pollution and cyberbullying

At 15 years old, Gitanjali Rao became TIME's first-ever 'Kid of the Year' (2020) for her groundbreaking STEM innovations. Her carbon nanotube sensor technology, named Tethys, detects lead contaminants in water faster than conventional methods - a response to the Flint water crisis.

The Colorado teen then developed Kindly, an AI-based app that detects cyberbullying in early stages using natural language processing. Her community-focused inventions extend to diagnosing opioid addiction and a tool helping COVID-19 patients monitor symptoms.

Through her innovation workshops, Gitanjali has mentored 30,000+ students across six continents. Her TED talks on 'A Young Scientist's Quest for Clean Water' have been viewed millions of times, inspiring youth-led solutions to global challenges. This Gen Z inventor proves age and gender needn't limit technological impact.