An Indian American super smart scientist from Colorado, she believes in inventing things to make the world a better place
Our Bureau
Washington, DC
In celebration of International Day of the Girl, the US First Lady has honored Gitanjali Rao from Highlands Ranch, Colorado as one of the 15 young women who are leading change and shaping a brighter future in communities across the United States. She was honored at a special ceremony at the White House.
Seventeen-year-old Gitanjali Rao is a freshman at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is a scientist and inventor whose groundbreaking lead contamination detection tool won her an EPA Presidential Award and America’s Top Young Scientist by Discovery Education/3M.
As per the release, Rao’s Young Innovator’s Guide to STEM, offering a prescriptive five-step innovation process, is used as a STEM curriculum globally in selected schools. The Time Magazine’s first-ever Kid of the Year, Gitanjali is committed to not only continuing her career as a scientist and inventor, but also expanding her STEM education initiative, which has already touched more than 80,000 elementary, middle, and high school students.
Rao, a super smart scientist from Colorado, holds a belief that inventing things can make the world a better place, such as Kindly – a computer technology that helps stop cyberbullying. At just 10 years of age, Gitanjali initiated developing a small device that can detect if there is lead in water. Lead, a chemical is hazardous for humans to drink or eat.
She has been selected by the White House Gender Policy Council. “It is my honor to celebrate this exceptional group of “Girls Leading Change” at the White House,” said First Lady Jill Biden.
