15-year-old Indian-American Gitanjali Rao, a “brilliant” young scientist and inventor, has been named by TIME magazine as the first-ever ‘Kid of the Year’ for her “astonishing work” using technology to tackle issues ranging from contaminated drinking water to opioid addiction and cyberbullying.
“The world belongs to those who shape it. And however uncertain that world may feel at a given moment, the reassuring reality seems to be that each new generation produces more of what these kids have already achieved: positive impact, in all sizes,” Time said.
Ms. Rao, 15, was selected from a field of more than 5,000 nominees as TIME’s first-ever Kid of the Year. She was interviewed by actor and activist Angelina Jolie for the TIME special.
Since a very young age, the aspiring scientist had begun thinking about how to use science and technology to bring about a social change in the global dynamics.
Speaking to TIME, she said that at 10 years of age she had first mentioned to her parents about researching carbon nanotube sensor technology, which had left her mother pretty much in a state of confusion.
At the age of 11, Rao won the Discovery Education 3M Scientist Challenge and was listed by Forbes in “30 Under 30” list for her innovations.
Rao’s latest discovery is an app called, Kindly, that detects cyberbullying at an early stage, based on artificial-intelligence technology.
When asked when she knew that science was her passion, Rao said she always wanted to put a smile on someone’s face. “That was my everyday goal, just to make someone happy. And it soon turned into, How can we bring positivity and community to the place we live?”
Rao added that she doesn’t look like “your typical scientist. Everything I see on TV is that it’s an older, usually white man as a scientist. It’s weird to me that it was almost like people had assigned roles, regarding like their gender, their age, the colour of their skin.
