Global Indianstory Global Indian ExclusiveAnurudh Ganesan, the young innovator revolutionising the healthcare world

Anurudh Ganesan, the young innovator revolutionising the healthcare world

Written by: Namrata Srivastava

(March 30, 2023) Almost every year, over one million kids die as a result of not getting vaccinated on time. The unavailability of vaccination transportation and storage facilities in several developing parts of the world has proven to be fatal for those who cannot afford expensive healthcare institutions. While the world leaders are still discussing the issue, a young innovator – Anurudh Ganesan – has been working tirelessly to resolve the problem in his backyard. At just 15, Anurudh invented VAXXWAGON, a portable refrigeration system to transport vaccines safely and effectively. The invention won him a slew of awards, including the LEGO Education Builder Award and the Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes. The VAXXWAGON runs on a “no ice, no electricity” system and is very cost-effective (less than $100), and can also keep the temperature consistent for several hours at a stretch.

Innovator | Anurudh Ganesan | Global Indian

Living in Clarksburg, USA, the young innovator’s VAXXWAGON is inspired by the problems faced by healthcare workers who have to transport vaccines to the remotest corners of the world. After working on the prototype for several years, the youngster came up with a machine that would require only 2.3 watts of energy to cool a well-insulated cold chamber. “In this day and age, nobody should die from vaccine-preventable diseases,” the innovator believes, “I’m committed to seeing this project through to the next phase. I will have succeeded when the first person’s life is saved because of VAXXWAGON.”

Destiny’s child

When he was an infant, his grandparents carried him ten miles in rural South India to get him his routine polio vaccination. When they finally arrived, they found the vaccines were useless after having not been refrigerated for an extended period. “I was fortunate,” he told Global Indian, adding, “For many, that trek to be vaccinated is a matter of life and death.” Anurudh was able to receive the vaccine the next day but realised that so many others aren’t as lucky, with 4,000 children dying every day from vaccine-preventable diseases.

Always the one to raise important questions and come up with innovative solutions, he recalls asking his father when he was five years old, about inventing a vehicle that doesn’t need gas. Anurudh didn’t stop there. He went on to research the subject, learning everything he could about self-generating power. In keeping with this, VAXXWAGON works with “wheel-powered refrigeration”. As the wheel turns, mechanical energy is converted to thermal energy and can keep vaccines cold for up to 16 hours after being powered for only half that time.

What an idea

It was while he was working on a school project that the young innovator got the idea for VAXXWAGON. He read several textbooks to learn everything he could about refrigeration, then he did research online to learn more about vaccines. Next, he began formulating his ideas on paper. Rather than relying on electricity or ice, Anurudh figured out a way to use wheels to power a refrigeration system for about eight hours. The entire rechargeable cooling system can be pulled to areas in need of vaccines by bicycle, car, or animal.

However, there was a loophole in his design that he not only identified but also managed to fix. To be safe and effective, vaccines must maintain a “Goldilocks temperature” between 2 and 8 degrees Celsius — similar to a very cold refrigerator — from the time they leave the manufacturers to the moment they reach the patient. Hospitals will package the vaccine on ice, but this can easily backfire if the ice is too cold and freezes the vials, or if it melts before the vaccine reaches its destination. “I took a refrigerator apart,” the innovator recalled, adding, “I saw how it worked and tried to re-engineer it so that it used no electricity and no ice to provide accurate refrigeration of vaccines while in transport.” All this, in roughly $100.

Eventually, Anurudh took his design to professors at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland for advice. Not only did they confirm that VAXXWAGON could work, but they also offered Anurudh funding to help build it. To test the prototype he had built, the innovator ran the VAXXWAGON on a treadmill at eight miles per hour for six hours — racking up the energy to power the refrigerator — and let it rest for nearly five hours to collect data while the compressor wasn’t being powered. In this simulated last leg of the trip, the fake vaccines maintained a temperature in the Goldilocks ranges for over four hours.

The road ahead

After nearly two years of refining a half-dozen prototypes, Anurudh has a patent pending for his latest design of VAXXWAGON now. He has won several awards for his innovation including Google Science Fair and also got a chance to demonstrate the working of the machine to US President Obama at the annual White House Science Fair. However, his main priority at this time is to start selling the machine to relief organisations by the end of the year so it can be used to help people around the world.

“In my mind,” the innovator said, “my design will be a success as soon as it saves even a single life. If it can save one life, it can save many more.” Currently, pursuing a finance degree at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, Anurudh’s message to the other young innovators is quite simple. “Don’t give up on your ideas. But always try to help others with your projects. That’s the point of innovation – to help people.”

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Published on 30, Mar 2023

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How Lydian Nadhaswaram taught himself to play piano and won CBS’ ‘The World’s Best’

(July 4, 2024) Even before his second birthday, Lydian Nadhaswaram could play a perfect 3/4 rhythm on the drums. When he turned eight, he taught himself to play piano. When he was 13 years old, he won CBS' The World's Best, which came with a $1 million cash prize. He can play 14 instruments and is the first, and only, student of the maestro Ilaiyaraja. In 2019, soon after he walked away with the World's Best trophy, it was announced that Lydian would make his debut as a film composer, in the Mohanlal-directed Malayalam fantasy film, Guardian of D'Gama's Treasure. His Instagram page is filled with celebrity photos, including Ilayaraja, A.R. Rahman, Kamal Haasan, Drew Barrymore and Sivamani. In 2022, Lydian also released his debut jazz album, Chromatic Grammatic. From xylophone sticks to multiple instruments View this post on Instagram A post shared by Lydian Nadhaswaram (@lydiannadhaswaramofficial) When Lydian Nadhaswaram was two years old, the family was celebrating his sister Amrithavarshini's birthday. Lydian picked up two xylophone sticks and played a rhythm. His father noticed his talent instantly and the next day, bought him a small Rototoms drum set. He soon began accompanying his father for every orchestra

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When Lydian Nadhaswaram was two years old, the family was celebrating his sister Amrithavarshini's birthday. Lydian picked up two xylophone sticks and played a rhythm. His father noticed his talent instantly and the next day, bought him a small Rototoms drum set. He soon began accompanying his father for every orchestra and light music show in town and Lydian would play the drums as he heard others sing, and try his hand at the string instruments and keyboards, too. Even his name holds music. The nadaswaram is a wind instrument and Lydian, a Greek word, is a raga. "In Tamil we have the kalyani raga. My father used to say that Lydian is the kalyani raga." When he was a baby, his father would play the Tamil song Kaatril varum geethame, written in the Lydian raga and even as a toddler, he would smile when he heard it.

So, when he first suggested playing the piano after watching a young Chinese pianist, his father worried he would spread himself too thin. "I told him you are a drummer and that guy is a pianist, maybe one day you can play with him on the same stage, you can't just learn the piano." Lydian, however, was determined. He went to the family's old Samick upright and sat down to play. "Suddenly one day, he came to the piano and started playing something which is not easy for a beginner to play," his father recalls. "He used both his hands like a master and I was astounded. From that day onwards, I encouraged him to play the piano as well." A few months later, although his fingers were presumably too small to cover a full octave, he stunned everyone, including his music director father, Varshan Satish, by playing Mozart, Beethoven and Chopin. When he turned 10 years old, in 2016, Lydian finished his grade 8 piano exam, playing Chopin's rubato, Petit Chien Valse. One examiner wrote in his report that "this was played with both delicacy and gusto."

Winning 'The World's Best' and global recognition

After his big break in 2019, the Global Indian's reputation grew in leaps and bounds across the world. Photos of Lydian Nadhaswaram, then barely 13, posing with Drew Barrymore, as he won The World's Best, went viral. Invitations to perform came pouring in, from across India, as well as from the US, Australia and Malaysia. The prodigy, who looked even younger than his thirteen years, went viral for playing two pianos at the same time.

It didn't stop there. "One day, I was playing the piano along with my sister Amritha Varshini, who is a pianist herself," Lydian said. "She playfully threw a towel on me, that fell on my head and covered my eyes but still, I managed to play the piece. That was the day my daddy noticed I could play even with my eyes shut. That practice continued whenever I felt like playing blindfolded." He demonstrated this skill on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

In Miami, writes Vishwas R Gaitonde in The Hindu, during a rehearsal for Simpre Ninos, the NBC television show, Nadhashwaram noticed that a string on the Baldwin grand piano had a metallic sound. None of the studio technicians had picked up on it. Lydian's observation caused such a stir that the producers provided him with a Yamaha C3 grand, brought straight from the showroom. His performance went so well that he was invited back on Siempre Ninos.

His dream piano is the Steinway grand - no surprises there. After his visit to Miami, Lydian went to New York City, where he visited the Steinway headquarters. In the visitors' room, he played a Model A. The showroom manager was so impressed, he led Lydian to the Model D concert grand, the company's top of the line model. He played Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata.

Mastering the craft and future aspirations

Today, a Steinway grand sits proudly in his studio, where a picture of Beethoven hangs on the wall. Only the teddy bear sitting on the piano hints at his age. And Lydian Nadhaswaram's repertoire has only grown. He plays 14 instruments, including the guitar, the violin and harpejji, a gift from A.R. Rahman. In this studio, he re-created Ilayaraja's most complex compositions, earning himself the honour of being the maestro's only student.

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After he graduated from Trinity College, he joined A.R. Rahman's KM Music Conservatory, to specialise in the Russian style of playing the piano. When he was 10 years old, he was vinted to India's first ever TED show, hosted by Shah Rukh Khan and curator Juliet Blake. Blake then invited Lydian to play a fusion piece with LA-based violinist Gingger Shankar and Swiss drummer Carlo Ribaux.

Lydian has gone on to win several awards, including the Cicely Goschen Shield, the Rajagopal Menon Prize, the PP John Memorial Prize and the Amy de Rozario Cup.

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Rohan Kalia: Indian-American teen wins President’s Scholarship for glaucoma detection device

(August 25, 2023) It was after one of Rohan Kalia's family members was diagnosed with glaucoma that the Indian-American teenager began researching an affordable technology that could be used for early detection. A sophomore at Wheeler High School in Marietta, the 17-year-old found that glaucoma ranks as the second most prominent cause of irreversible blindness on a global scale. The startling fact prompted him to look for an affordable solution in the form of a device that can accurately diagnose the condition. This gave birth to EyePal, a portable device that can detect glaucoma with 95 percent accuracy. The invention won the teenager the 2023 IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) President's Scholarship, which comes with a prize of $10,000. Glaucoma is an eye disease involving the degradation of the optic nerve that carries visual information, leading to a gradual loss of vision. If not detected early, it can lead to some degree of permanent blindness. The condition is detected from images taken of the retinal fundus (the back surface of the eye's interior) during a standard examination by an opthalmologist. During his research, Rohan found that a person's socioeconomic condition impacts the diagnosis of glaucoma. "I learned that

oma. "I learned that there's a huge disparity in eye care treatment across the world," Rohan said, adding, "Diagnosis and prevention of glaucoma is not accessible."

[caption id="attachment_32712" align="aligncenter" width="596"] Rohan Kalia[/caption]

Moreover, he discovered that people in rural areas are worst affected as many individuals face difficulty in accessing glaucoma testing due to a shortage of eye doctors and testing centers, coupled with the expensive equipment, absence of health insurance, and high-test costs. Understanding the severity of the condition, Rohan knew he had to find a solution. Explaining the working of EyePal, he said, "The EyePal uses a quality camera, a Raspberry Pi minicomputer, machine-learning technology, and a mobile app. The camera takes photos of the fundus and sends them to a mobile device that can be examined by a specialist. EyePal showed 95 percent accuracy when tested on sets of fundus images."

Apart from its accuracy, the device's portability is yet another plus point as it can be employed in rural medical centres and health clinics as opposed to the standalone specialised equipment that can be used only in a doctor's office or vision testing center. "The device costs less than $100," Rohan said, adding, "It's 50 times cheaper than the average price of ophthalmology equipment, in addition to being highly portable. What I did was create this new ensemble-based system of diagnosis."

The invention won him the President's Scholarship, which refers to as a "nice surprise." Moreover, EyePal was presented at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in May in Dallas, Texas.

The inventor, who loves creating solutions and plans to work in the field of research, advices future engineers to keep going despite the obstacles. "In an engineering project, you're going to face times you want to give up, but keep persevering. Pick a project topic that you really like,” the Global Indian says, adding, "When you’re really interested in the topic, it will give you the motivation to keep pushing through."

Healthcare for all: US teen’s app improves life in rural Maharashtra

(February 23, 2023) On a summer trip to India in 2014, Aryaman Khandelwal and his family were going by road to Chikaldara, a village in Maharashtra. The area is famous for growing corn and the family stopped at roadside stalls to try it. On the way, he saw a little boy, no more than ten years of age, carrying a sack of corn twice his size. "It was an impetus for me, something needed to change," he said, in an interview. Then a senior at Parkland High School, Aryaman went on to found Get2Greater over the next couple of years, an AI-driven app to improve access to healthcare services. When he saw the young boy carrying corn, it dawned on Khandelwal that life wasn't so easy for everyone. "They had to work so hard to make do," he said. His efforts earned him the Gloria Barron Prize in 2017, which is given to young people with significant social initiatives. "The entire idea was inspired by a human geography course at school," he said, adding, "The class was about demographics and societies changing over time and developing and developed countries working together to create societal progress across the board. The idea

given to young people with significant social initiatives. "The entire idea was inspired by a human geography course at school," he said, adding, "The class was about demographics and societies changing over time and developing and developed countries working together to create societal progress across the board. The idea interested me and I wanted to implement it." So, in 2015, the young Global Indian began work, reaching out to family members who had worked as doctors in rural Maharashtra.

[caption id="attachment_27788" align="aligncenter" width="490"] Aryaman Khandelwal[/caption]

Collaboration with the MAHAN Trust

Aryaman was put in touch with the MAHAN Trust, which provided healthcare to rural parts of the state. The NGO was founded in 1997 by Dr Ashish, who wanted to improve medical care and health services to tribal communities in the Melghat region. They have set up a hospital, child care programmes, eye testing, run nutrition farms and carry out socio-economic research. Through them, Aryaman learned that "maybe 10 to 15 trained guys serve a population of 200,000," he said.

At the time, the MAHAN Trust was training village health workers to carry out basic processes. They dealt with numerous challenges, aside from the lack of qualified doctors and healthcare workers and had to work around the system. There were many quacks, who would quit studying after a year of med school and return home as ‘healthcare providers’. People were also deeply suspicious of outsiders and western medicine alike and didn’t really want to talk to healthcare workers who arrived from elsewhere.

Locals were, however, comfortable with the trained workers, who were from their own communities, who were otherwise not fully educated. "They were trained to take basic measurements, record them and take the data to a hospital," Aryaman explained. Doctors would review it and send back treatments or diagnoses. While the method was innovative, and showed results, it was time-consuming and could take anywhere between two weeks to two months.

Building Get2Greater

That's where Get2Greater came in - it separates the unhealthy from the healthy, so doctors could focus on the more pressing cases. The app can record basic health metrics, compile it in order of priority and send it to doctors nearby. When he started, however, Aryaman "just had a passion and an idea." Equipped with a basic software prototype, Aryaman sent a tablet to MAHAN in India and established a line of correspondence. "I asked them to critique the app," he said. "I realised that India is very far away from the US! We could only speak for a few hours late at night or early in the morning. There was also very little electricity and connectivity."

He began reaching out for collaborations. Aryaman's proposal won him funding from Lehigh Valley LaunchBox, an entrepreneurial program run by Penn State Lehigh Valley. After numerous trials and bug fixes, Aryaman replaced English with Hindi and created a Wi-Fi component so the devices could connect to the local hospitals. He has also been in talks with the UN to help take the device to other parts of India and the world.

Aryaman, who was named 2018 US Presidential Scholar and a Coca-Colar Scholar in 2018, went on to earn a Bachelor's of Science in Engineering in Computer Science from Princeton University. He went on to found ‘Stealth’ along with Harvard grad Dean Hathout.

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Born with dancing shoes: Shreyah Mohanselvan is connected to her roots through Bharatanatyam

(October 29, 2022) She was on a summer break, waiting to start school again in a few weeks when she first received the news that she had been nominated for the US Presidential Scholars Award in the Arts. Chosen among students from 25 states, Shreyah Mohanselvan, a native of Tamil Nadu, was thrilled to know that the government recognised her passion for classical Indian dance forms that she had been learning since she was four years old. Aspiring to be a professional dancer someday, this youngster has attained outstanding prowess in five different dance forms including ballet, Bharatanatyam, and Odissi. [caption id="attachment_23543" align="aligncenter" width="597"] Shreyah Mohanselvan, Indian classical dancer[/caption] “Dance is not just my passion but a fascination for me. I gave in to my obsession with dancing at the age of four. I started with ballet at the New Albany Ballet Company and went on to learn Indian classical dance forms including Bharatanatyam,” Shreyah said to Travel Beats, an Indian American community portal. Undeniably, dancing is her comfort zone and favorite stress buster. However dancing is just the tip of the huge talent iceberg for this young Global Indian. A brilliant student, Shreyah Mohanselvan is equally talented in science

eniably, dancing is her comfort zone and favorite stress buster. However dancing is just the tip of the huge talent iceberg for this young Global Indian. A brilliant student, Shreyah Mohanselvan is equally talented in science and engineering. A recent graduate from Rice University in Texas, where she earned a degree in computer science, the dancer is currently working as a Product Manager with Microsoft.

Ballet to Bharatnatyam

Born to Mohanselvan Subramanian and Sumathi Mohanselvan, who immigrated to the USA from India in the early 90s, Shreyah would tap her feet to any kind of music even as a toddler. And so, recognising her talent, her parents decided to put Shreyah in a local dance class. However, while she was good at ballet, the dancer wasn't satisfied with what she was learning. It was her mother, who after sensing her curiosity to learn more, decided to take her to her first Bharatnatyam class.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8fXyUu3TSk

The sounds of ghunghroo and taal mesmerised Shreyah from the get-go and there was no turning back. Over the years, the young dancer learnt not one but two major classical dances of India - Bharatnatyam, and Odissi. “The two dance forms have differences and similarities, and sometimes it is difficult to force the body to be true to both of these two conflicting dance forms,” she explained in an interview with City Scene Columbus.

Recognition comes calling

Shreyah, however, is not just a dancer, she is an award-winning dancer. The youngster claimed the first place in the Federation of Indian Associations of Central Ohio’s Indian solo dance competition for three consecutive years. She also has three first-place and two second-place finishes in the Vindhya Cultural Association in Columbus, a competition that attracts talent from all across the state.

In 2018, she was presented with a National Young Arts Winner Honorable Mention Award in Indian/classical dance. The youngster owes her nomination for the 2018 US Presidential Scholars Award to Carolina García Jayaram, President, and CEO of the Miami-based National YoungArts Foundation which is one of the partners for this National Recognition Programme.

No pain, no gain?

But, as they say, no achievement comes without pain. Throughout her school life, this youngster followed a very strict daily routine to stay on top of not just her dance practice, but also her academics. So much so that, while others her age were enjoying all kinds of junk food, the 20-year-old had a diet plan scheduled for her. "I always eat balanced meals to maintain my energy and stamina. Around the time of major rehearsals and performances, I pay extra attention to my diet and sleep to make sure I can maintain my focus and energy levels," she shared during one of the interviews.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3j7UaoMs88

A bright youngster, who also served as the student council president at her school, Shreyah has big plans for the future. Even though she is working full-time at Microsoft now, the youngster continues to practice every day early in the morning and wishes to start her professional journey as a dancer soon. Although her schedule can sometimes be exhausting, the young dancer believes, "If one is doing something she loves, she is already doing something amazing."

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Satvika Iyer: Indian-American Young Eco-Hero promoting plant-based diet in school cafeterias

(October 20, 2023) "Our school's lunch menu lacked diversity in all aspects, and I couldn't believe that the same five ingredients seemingly rotated into different meals somehow met the guidelines for a balanced meal," says Indian-American teen Satvika Iyer, who was keen to create a healthy and sustainable food system in schools by advocating for more plant-based nutrition and better waste management. The campaign earned the Milpitas High School student 2023 International Young Eco-Hero Award. "The US government continues to subsidise systems that are inefficient and exploitative. Factory farming is one of those systems. As a high school student, I decided to break free from the 'business as usual' model of school food by taking a few small steps with the help of my school’s cafeteria and nutrition staff, and it led to a rewarding and lasting impact," she said in an interview. [caption id="attachment_33678" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Satvika Iyer[/caption] Born to immigrant parents, Satvika had a hard time growing up as a vegetarian in California, and during lunchtime in school, she was asked to take pepperoni off the pizza. Despite her school catering to a 70 percent Asian population, they had only one Asian salad on the menu before featuring

a, and during lunchtime in school, she was asked to take pepperoni off the pizza. Despite her school catering to a 70 percent Asian population, they had only one Asian salad on the menu before featuring more plant-based options. This led to reaching the administration in her district with more plant-based options in school lunches, which set the ball rolling. "We began a district-wide Earth Day campaign to educate elementary, middle, and high school students about how and why choosing the plant-based option at school is important for combating climate change. We got incredible support from our cafeteria manager for the project," she added as the campaign has helped serve over 2000 vegan lunches in the last year in the school.

They initially came up with a plant-based pitstop decked out with colourful posters in one corner of the cafeteria, but it gave an impression "that a plant-based meal was different from one with meat." However, after feedback to the nutrition services staff about the placement of the plant-based options in the cafe, they were able to integrate it with a full-time cafeteria. "This experience shows that a high school cafeteria might need to be organized differently to support student participation in climate-friendly food options, and it's our job to be flexible and try new things," she added.

However, changing the perception of high schoolers on what they eat wasn't a "walk in the park" as many opt for beef tacos daily. "Resistance to eating more plant-based food is usually coupled with being uninformed on the nutritional and ethical values that different foods offer," the Global Indian said.

When asked why would school students opt for climate-friendly food, the eco-warrior said, "From an environmental standpoint, the amount of water and greenhouse gas emissions saved by choosing one plant-based meal over a meat and dairy-based entree in your cafeteria is significant." That's not it! Even from an ethical point of view, "each conventional beef patty represents the cruel, inhumane practices of industrial animal agriculture. The price we pay for seemingly 'cheap' industrial meats is animal cruelty."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnnEJjZrm8k

The campaign helped Satvika's school district to introduce a permanent plant-based menu with meat-free alternatives and salad bars, in turn making a significant impact on school nutrition at her high school. The teenager, who believes that science and education can help solve global issues, shares friendly advice with other students who plan to tread a similar path. "Confront any fear with action. Instead of being overwhelmed by the daunting task ahead of you, celebrate the little wins. From reaching fellow students, finding plant-powered regulars, educating others, volunteering to help distribute meals, or even getting someone to try something from the plant-based menu just once — these are all wins and signs of progress!"

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