Global Indianstory Global Indian ExclusiveArundhati Banerjee: Reshaping norms through dance, pageantry and giving back in Australia

Arundhati Banerjee: Reshaping norms through dance, pageantry and giving back in Australia

Written by: Amrita Priya

(December 13, 2023) Arundhati Banerjee, the trailblazing Miss Teen Diamond Australia 2019, and the Lifetime Miss Diamond Ambassador shattered norms and made history as the first Indian-origin teenager to claim the prestigious title. Beyond pageantry and modelling, she champions causes, excels as an Indian classical dancer, and advocates for women’s rights and sustainability. Recognised as the ‘Emerging Leader (2020)’ by the South Australian Government, Arundhati has passionately fundraised to support individuals with Down syndrome. Rooted in her Indian heritage, the 20-year-old who is pursuing education at Griffith University in Australia, has made the Indian diaspora of the country proud by her accomplishments.

As a fashion model, Arundhati has been on the cover pages of renowned magazines in Australia, the United States, India, and Africa. She has showcased her dancing talent at numerous national and international festivals across Australia such as the OzAsia Festival, International Indian Film Festival in Melbourne, International Folkloric Festival to name a few.

Arundhati Banerjee

Breaking barriers

In 2019, Arundhati Banerjee became the first Indian teenager to win the Miss Teen Diamond Australia title. The Miss and Mr Diamond International & Australia goes beyond the conventional beauty pageant concept. It serves as a community hero initiative, aiming to establish a platform where individuals of all ages can fundraise and advocate for causes dear to them. Securing seven additional titles within the pageant, aside from claiming the overall title, Arundhati became the first Indian-origin teenager to achieve this prestigious honour, all while balancing her commitments as a high school student during that time.

“I went in with the purpose of just spreading love and gratitude and to gain some experience. I was very fortunate to win and I’m very happy that I’m able to say that I’m Miss teen Australia 2019,” she said in an interview. She was later selected as the Lifetime Miss Diamond Ambassador in 2021.

Arundhati achieved another significant milestone in 2021 by securing a place among the top 30 contestants in the prestigious Australian Super Model of the Year (ASOTY) competition. “I joined it for the message that it conveys – the message of sisterhood, diversity and inclusivity and speaking about the issues of those who are discriminated on basis of colour and creed,” she said adding, “After weeks and months of selection process I was lucky and fortunate enough to be selected as one of the 30 contestants and work as a network of sisters for rebuilding the society as women working together instead of pitted against each other. That’s what attracted me to associate myself with the pageant.”

Arundhati Banerjee

The emerging leader

In a remarkable achievement, Arundhati who is also a trained Indian classical dancer and performer, was honoured with the ‘Emerging Leader (2020)’ award by the South Australian Government on Australia Day for her contribution in the fields of art and humanitarian services. While the youngster cherishes all her accomplishments, it is the prestigious Emerging Leader award in Australia that she is proudest of. “Being a woman of colour, getting that award was really very special to me and initially I couldn’t believe that I have really got it,” she remarked adding, “I want to open more doors for others to rise in life with my titles”.

Modelling for giving back

In the course of her journey in pageantry, the Global Indian has successfully fundraised more than AUD $3850 for the charitable organisation, emotion 21, dedicated to aiding young adults and children with Down syndrome. She is also associated with CanTeen, Cancer Council, and Foodbank.

Arundhati serves as the brand ambassador for the boutique firm Bridal Fusion Mascia, aligning with her core values of inclusivity, diversity, and body positivity. Passionate about sustainability, she advocates for eco-friendly fashion and slow clothing through her partnership with South Australian brand NoRuYeLo, promoting a message of saying ‘No to Rubbish, Yes to Love.’ Additionally, she has been at the ramp for Lorna Jane at BU Fashion to support fundraising efforts for victims of domestic violence. Committed to giving back, she volunteered with the Rotary Club’s Cold Plunge initiative, dedicated to raising funds for the homeless.

Arundhati Banerjee

Creating a mark

Before securing the Miss Teen Diamond Australia title in 2019, Arundhati had triumphed as the winner of the Miss Glamour Genic-Supreme Talent competition in 2018.

Recognised as a dedicated dancer and ‘Arttrepreneur,’ she is also the founder of the dance academy, AIDA Bharatanatyaved in Adelaide, South Australia. Proficient in three classical Indian dance forms – Bharatanatyam, Kathak, and Odissi – Arundhati has tried to make these art forms popular. “I feel happy that through my dance I am able to showcase the beauty of my Indian roots and culture to a multicultural audience in Australia,” she remarked.

Her expertise in Indian classical dance was honed under the tutelage of esteemed gurus, including the renowned Padmashree Shobana Chandra Kumar, an award-winning actress, dancer, and choreographer, from whom she learned Bharatanatyam.

Since most of her gurus are based in India, Arundhati’s dance classes have mostly been on zoom or Skype. The youngster is grateful to her gurus’ patience in teaching her in online mode. However, since she had moved to Australia from India at the age of 11 owing to her father’s transfer, she had picked up the basics of dancing before migrating.

Spreading positivity

Arundhati looks at her achievements as a starting point for her greater goals. Her aim extends beyond personal success. The multi-talented youngster wants her efforts to positively impact the community and serve as inspiration, especially for young people, so that they get encouraged to aim higher.

“I want to instigate change, build something meaningful, and leave a lasting impact, creating a legacy for future generations to surpass,” she says.

Arundhati Banerjee

The fashion model believes in the inherent beauty of individuals regardless of their appearance – colour and body type. “Clothes fit you, you don’t fit the clothes,” she said, advocating the idea that clothes should complement one’s body rather than the other way around, especially when women are increasingly facing challenges finding clothes that suit them.

In love with her ‘Indian-ness’

“I was born in India and spent the first 11 years of my life there before I moved to Australia,” tells Arundhati who embraces her ‘Indian-ness’ with élan, and ‘loves everything about India’. “My love for theatre, music and other forms of art stems from my cultural roots.”

The Indian-origin youngster received recognition for her contributions to promoting art and multiculturalism, and was honoured with the Multicultural Award by the International Film & Entertainment Festival Australia at the New South Wales Parliament. Additionally, her impactful involvement in arts and fashion earned her the Highflyer Achiever – NRI Award at the Milestone Global Awards.

Follow Arundhati Banerjee on Instagram and Facebook

What’s your Global Indian story? Write to us at editor@globalindian.com

Name*

Email*

Name*

Email*

0 Comments

Inline Feedbacks

View all comments

Published on 13, Dec 2023

Share with

ALSO READ

‘App’lying thought: Teen changemaker Karthik Ramu innovates for elder care

(March 19, 2022) If you have a proclivity for tech, one of two things can happen: You can turn that knowledge into a solution; or you, learn and create an ecosystem striving higher. For teen changemaker Karthik Ramu, it was a coupling of both these that helped him solve the hugely ignored elder care problem in the US. Deep in the throes of his freshman year at the University of Virginia, his grandfather in Coimbatore fell ill. The Virginia-based boy and his family were on tenterhooks. Nothing worth something is going to be easy. One day you get someone interested, another day you are rejected - continuing to innovate with focused understanding is important. - Karthik Ramu, teen innovator and global teen leader Witnessing angst and uncertainty, Karthik set out on a path to research on elder care, get data, and he and his classmate Kushi launched AmityConnect. The mobile platform helps families monitor elders’ health by aggregating real-time health data from smart medical devices (smartwatches, etc). Honoured as a global teen leader by We Are Family Foundation (2021),

he and his classmate Kushi launched AmityConnect. The mobile platform helps families monitor elders’ health by aggregating real-time health data from smart medical devices (smartwatches, etc). Honoured as a global teen leader by We Are Family Foundation (2021), he also won the T-Mobile Changemaker Challenge award and was chosen among the top 30 changemakers. The enterprising teen changemaker is direct, has a weakness about numbering his pointers, to then tackle each head on.

[caption id="attachment_12886" align="aligncenter" width="355"] Karthik Ramu, co-founder, AmityConnect[/caption]

When an idea was born

The Tamilian born in North Carolina is as close to his Coimbatore-born parents' roots as he is to his Indian-American culture. The single child’s upbringing was also entrenched in tech as his father is an IT consultant, and his mother helps at their firm. AmityConnect was initiated in 2018-19 at his stem-based magnate high school. An entrepreneurship computer science programme piqued his curiosity, and he ideated on a solution with the potential to impact society.

“The biggest problem for our team was our grandparents – they had medical emergencies. I saw my grandfather suffer a heart attack. We felt distant and unaware, and were unable to offer the best care,” says teen changemaker Karthik Ramu in an interview with Global Indian. Putting his thinking cap on, the co-founder realised that the need for elder care was critical. His grandfather recovered, and a quest began to solve this oft-forgotten need – “Did you know that the elderly population is expected to double globally from 900 million to 2 billion in 2050 – it shook me,” adds the 19-year-old.

Caring for the aged

About one in six people in the US are elderly – with chronic conditions. Often, families and caretakers are left in the dark, and unable to give pertinent care. Initially, they created an app that aggregates data from medical devices but soon realised the larger problem – the data was inaccessible to caretakers, family, etc.

AmityConnect was born as a simple yet ground-breaking way to care for the elderly – simplifying data from devices to send updates on health, and using AI to predict trends — the idea was pitched to tech competitions. Seven family members were roped in to test the app, and it emerged that it was perfect for senior-living facilities. Amity, meaning peace and calm, is Karthik’s way of connecting everyone together for elder care – a peace emanating prospect, no doubt.

The app data also helps predict medical emergencies. “The data we are aggregating shows a trend in medical vitals, thus with AI and ML, we are able to predict heart attacks, etc. We tried to create an AI model to help senior living facilities prep for emergencies,” explains the serious-minded teen changemaker.

The team is also streamlining the way senior living facilities work (often outdated). Families get elders’ health updates at their fingertips with a feature that allows senior living staff to convey data. The beta testing during Covid-19’s peak saw them partner with 20-30 Apple Fitbits. Slowly understanding and smoothening glitches, the focus is on funding, development and growing the team. They also won a competition judged and created by Tim Draper, a renowned venture capitalist in the US, winning $16,000 -$17,000 funding. The goal is to triple funding, launch and tap into the 40,000 to 50,000 US-based senior living communities.

[caption id="attachment_13038" align="aligncenter" width="839"] Karthik Ramu, co-founder, AmityConnect with his friends[/caption]

The only way is up

Expanding the team, they brought in WWDC scholars (Apple Worldwide Developers Conference) – Don, from Singapore and Nick from Netherlands. In the pre-launch stage, Karthik is now busy with school and wants to study MBA (economics and computers science). A part of him longs for the traditional setup of families in India, where primary caregivers are family members, but he accepts that the US is different.

Starting up is tough, and he believes he has the resilience and strength of purpose to succeed, “Nothing worth something is going to be easy. One day you get someone interested, another day you are rejected - continuing to innovate with focused understanding is important - How can I impact others? I realise that the only things that stay are your ideas and work,” says the very mature teen changemaker.

His “India” is a bustling cornucopia - active and alive. Those yearly trips are precious. Fluent in Tamil, Karthik adds, “I speak to my grandparents often. When we go to India, we visit the village. I’ve been brought very Indian, and that has helped me in many ways. Acknowledging the other parts of you, and your identity is helpful, and makes one unique.”

Projects, and more projects

Left to his own skillset, his parents are supportive but noninterfering. “Their goal is to guide me in the right direction – whether to pitch at competitions or a willingness to drive me there, they motivate me. At the same time, I am doing these different ventures, helping out with different entrepreneurship projects so they ensure I balance it all,” smiles Karthik, who hopes to graduate and devote time developing AmityConnect, and ultimately be his own boss.

His parents are unaware of his projects, “They joke that I never tell them anything, but they end up being pleasantly surprised and proud,” adds the teen changemaker.

Quiet, contemplative, his close-knit friends’ circle helps him spread those bookish wings further. The 5’10’’ basketball player is thankful to his teachers – “Ms Schmidt, Ms Dorothy, who were a guiding force to help me get the right resources. Cliff Weitzman (founder and CEO, Speechify, an AI-powered text to speech platform), who has a YouTube channel inspired me with his writing. He knows what it is to be a student entrepreneur, and grow a 100-plus team to generate revenue,” says the basketball aficionado.

Another mentor, Drew Bartkiewicz (in the top 100 influential people by Goldman Sachs) from We Are Family Foundation is a mentor. The teen changemaker says, “His immense experience in scaling app-based companies – helped us immensely.”

Covid-19 was Karthik’s, “time to introspect, create his own values and understand where he is, and where he wants to go.” Yes, for a freshman, the teen changemaker philosophises too.

Follow Karthik Ramu on Linkedin

Tasting success: Meet the young chefs who are taking the Indian platter to the world

(February 16, 2023) As per a recent study by German food ordering company Lieferando, Indian food is the second most popular cuisine on social media and had the fastest growth rate of 41 percent. In the last two decades, several young chefs from the Indian diaspora are tapping into the potential of regional Indian food and stacking it with consciousness, innovation, and creativity. Interestingly, a young chef from Kolkata - Naureen Shaikh - recently won the bronze trophy at the International Young Chef Olympiad, defeating 50 participants from various other countries. And she is not the only one. The culinary world is witnessing a rise of many young Indian or Indian-origin chefs, who are carving a niche for themselves. Global Indian puts the spotlight on young chefs who are changing the international perception of Indian food from spice-laden meals to delicate cuisine. Naureen Shaikh Going against her mother, who wanted her to pursue a degree in social sciences and become an IAS officer, Naureen Shaikh took admission to a hotel management institute to follow her dream of becoming a chef. And making her mother very proud, the 20-year-old recently won the bronze cup at the International Young Chef Olympiad, held

a chef. And making her mother very proud, the 20-year-old recently won the bronze cup at the International Young Chef Olympiad, held in Goa. The chef, who prepared two portions of French omelette, four portions of a prawn entree, and dessert for the finale, shared in a press conference that her love for cooking started at quite a young age. " My interest in cooking started when I was in Class VIII and I would always look for feedback on what I had prepared because that would help me improve,” she said.

For about six months before the competition, she would spend almost 12 hours in the institute 'making the same dish over and over again'. “It was exhausting and at times frustrating. But hard work, consistency, and dedication matter. It was a Michelin-star restaurant. Working in the kitchen, I learnt that the customer gives us bread and butter and we have to give them value for money," shared the young chef, who wishes to open a restaurant in Kolkata in the next few years.

Arnav Kamulkar

While his classmates at J.P. Stevens High School in New Jersey were looking up which college to apply to, this 17-year-old chef was busy experimenting with new recipes and designing a menu for his restaurant - Clove 12. Redefining the genre of the typical Indian restaurant with innovation and uniqueness, Arnav Kamulkar began cooking at the age of 6 with traditional Indian dishes because that's what his mother made. When she became a "bit explorative" and tried other cuisines, Kamulkar, who was her sous chef, found his spark. "From there it just kind of snowballed. I started making my own stuff. Originally, I was just helping my mom cook vegetables and watching her cook and then slowly I wanted to make my own recipes, and do my own stuff. And that's how it kind of led to what I'm doing today," the chef told in an interview.

Drawing inspiration from across the globe, the young chef features fusion offerings at his restaurant, that according to him, "marry the best flavors from all cuisines to provide a one-of-a-kind gastronomic experience." Speaking about his plans for his restaurant going ahead, the teen chef said, "I'll explore gastronomy. I'll do molecular cooking. Like, sometimes I'll make plant-based caviar. And I'll also do fusion foods, like Indian tacos. Clove 12 is definitely a mix of all cuisines. Although I do like to keep a bit of a foundation of Indian food because that's how I first learned how to cook."

Madhumitha K P

Just 19, and already ruling the culinary world. Bengaluru's Madhumitha K P represented India at the 2019 Young Chef Olympiad and came back home with a shining trophy. Though none of her family members are into this profession, she was inspired by her mother and dreamt of becoming a famous chef. "Even as a young girl I would cook at home under my mom's supervision, and by the time I finished my schooling, I was sure that I wanted to do hotel management."

The young chef wants to work in a standalone restaurant in Europe in the coming years and hopes that it will give her the necessary experience in cooking. In the next five years, she aims to start her own food court chain across India. She also hopes to adopt orphanages and old age homes so that she can provide them with regular food.

Dev Mishra

Who can forget 13-year-old Dev Mishra - the young chef who bowled over top Australian chefs with his finger-licking lamb mughlai curry? The teen chef earned rave reviews from the judges on the show Junior MasterChef Australia, for his first-ever meal in the show, with chef Jock Zonfrillo saying, “I feel as if I’m eating at your table at home with your parents and your brothers.”

Like many chefs across the world, Dev's love for cooking was inspired by his mother. "I started learning to cook for as long as I can remember. My mum always wanted my brother and me to be independent and she encouraged us to learn cooking. My first memory of cooking is when my mum would give me some dough to knead and roll to make roti or mix and prepare ingredients," the youngster had informed during an interview. Currently running successful YouTube and Instagram food channels, the young chef plans on opening his chain of restaurants. "My restaurant will serve food from across the world. I cook different cuisines, and I try to recreate authentic flavours with my twist to them. That’s what I want to showcase at my restaurant," he shared.

‘AI’ Aye to teen inventor Prisha Shroff’s wildfire tracker, drone & other tech

(February 26, 2022) When inventor Nicola Tesla remarked, “Be alone, that is the secret of invention; be alone, that is when ideas are born,” a brilliant 15-year-old girl from Chandler, Arizona, inadvertently followed his diktat. Teen inventor Prisha Shroff sat alone, contemplating solutions to world problems. Et Voila, she solved some, and is on her way to solving many more. Finding a problem, solving it, and moving on to the next is Prisha's modus operandi. A mind that runs riot on witnessing something disconcerting, the teen inventor dives into her cauldron of extensive tech and coding stack - and out of that Stem hat a solution is born! An Intel Innovator, she also had a national honourable mention at the NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing. Included in the Smithsonian Sixteen Innovators to Watch in 2022, the honours, they keep on coming. Her 2021 invention – An AI-based Wildfire Prevention System won the Broadcom Masters Lemelson Award for Invention, Wells Fargo Sustainable Earth Innovation Award and the 3M Young Scientist Award. [caption id="attachment_11477" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Prisha Shroff with one of her inventions[/caption] How a wildfire triggered a fire in her Prisha witnessed the devastation by wildfires on her way back

"Teen innovator | Prisha Shroff " width="700" height="525" /> Prisha Shroff with one of her inventions[/caption]

How a wildfire triggered a fire in her

Prisha witnessed the devastation by wildfires on her way back from LA. Troubled, she researched into AI and tech. Her answer was a Wildfire Prevention System which uses real-time NASA and NOAA meteorological data to predict wildfires. The system alerts and even deploys a drone carrying flame retardant. Just 15, her proclivity to use tech began at just six years of age. Yes, that young.

“I used an engineering design process to build the WPS. The first time, it used only one input parameter, temperature, and image processing to predict hotspots, and had low accuracy. I revised it, and it uses real-time data of six input parameters from Nasa and Noaa to accurately identify hotspots,” teen inventor Prisha Shroff explains in an exclusive with Global Indian. One nods, not fully comprehending, but yes, a serious problem has a solution.

Her WPS is 98.6 percent accurate today. And it combines artificial intelligence to analyse temperatures, soil moisture, precipitation, vegetation, health and wind.

[caption id="attachment_11415" align="aligncenter" width="689"] Prisha Shroff[/caption]

“The fire lasted 86 days, causing 1,032,648 acres of land burnt, and 935 structures destroyed,” recalls Prisha. “I was happy to realise that the solution can be used in the real world to prevent wildfires,” says the teen inventor who is now exploring patents, and working on improving it.

When tech calls, Prisha answers

Her interest in computing and technology thanks to her project-based learning elementary school saw her master ‘all things coding.’ “My teachers encouraged me to keep asking questions. The scientific method and engineering design process were stepping stones to computing and technology. They were the life changing- foundation blocks of my education,” reveals the teen inventor.

Soon, Prisha was leveraging this power to “make things happen,” while peers and experts looked on in awe.

“One day, my mom showed me the code of a digital clock which used an arduino board to tell time. A few lines of code to tell the time…,” left her wonderstruck, and suddenly the world of coding became the framework to mind-boggling inventions for a wee girl – a WPS, a self-cleaning solar panel, a water-saving showerhead, a solar-powered drone, and an arduino-based leak detection device.

A clubber who Stems change

Shroff inhabits a world of block codes, and programming ozobots. A self-taught coder, she learnt on code.org, and soon transformed a few lines of code into a functioning website. As part of the drone club, Prisha wasn’t just flying drones for fun, but learning about the physics of flight. “I discovered that the drone’s flight time was so small, which hindered functioning. So, I developed solar-powered drones,” says the teen inventor. At the 3D printing club in school, more inventions followed – a medi-kit. Unsurprisingly, even the video game design club saw her create an educational game.

AI fascinates this little genius. An Udacity course followed by a Kaggle one, Prisha is now ever-ready to solve real-world problems. That is, if she hasn’t already.

On winning the Broadcom Masters Lemelson Award for Invention 2021 with a prize of $10,000, the teen inventor says, “My thoughts were happiness as I had created a solution that had a positive impact. It boosted my confidence, and inspired me to never give up.”

Nurtured in academics

Prisha’s parents Romish (from Mumbai) and Prital Shroff (from Baroda) have strong academic credentials. Her father, a computer engineer, did his MBA from Chicago, and now works at a US Fortune 500 company. Her mother, was motivated by her father to study further, and has an MS in computer science from Penn State. She works at a tech firm, also a Fortune 500. Prisha’s Gujarati upbringing ensures she visits her grandparents and cousins in India frequently.

“She’s always been this motivated kid who wants to go change the world,” says her mother Prital while her brother is inspired by how Prisha’s mind works.

[caption id="attachment_11417" align="aligncenter" width="792"] Prisha Shroff[/caption]

The ninth grader from Hamilton High School, LA is not all geek. She plays the piano, sings and reads. “When I play the piano, I feel peaceful, calm and in my element. Singing boosts my confidence. I am the happiest when I am composing my own songs,” says the artsy scientist.

Elon Musk, a role model

Teachers, project heads, parents, have all mentored this sponge of knowledge. Yet the the teen inventor's bigger inspiration is, “Pujya Gurudevshri Rakeshbhai, a peaceful, enlightened master, and spiritual visionary. He teaches us to become better people through practical examples and stories. His mission is to realise one’s true self, and serve selflessly. He teaches us 5 S’s - satsang (timeless wisdom), sadhana (spirituality applied), seva (selfless service), sanskruti (culture), sports.” It does explain Prisha’s single-minded focus on doing good.

[caption id="attachment_11426" align="aligncenter" width="721"] Prisha Shroff with family[/caption]

Elon Musk, her role model, she feels is an “amazing visionary with brilliant ideas” “His electric self-drive Tesla cars, SpaceX, exploring commercial flights to both Earth and the lunar orbit, Musk has even created Boring, a company that works on building the hyperloop,” says an excited teen inventor who advices, “Be curious, dream big and never give up.”

A 15-year-old teen scientist who understood a Nasa problem then went on to invent a self-cleaning solar panel, she explains “Solar panels face dust that decreases efficiency. Nasa declared its Opportunity Mars rover unresponsive after its solar-powered robot went silent during a dust storm.” Prisha increased efficiency with her self-cleaning, self-detecting solar panel system (with a dust sensor that activates a wiper system).

It hard to fully grasp a teen and her brilliant scientific mind. “Prisha the scientist and Prisha the 15-year-old are the same person! I enjoy hanging out with friends, playing board games with family, and baking with my brother!” she giggles.

Onward with an incredible sense of self, the years ahead can only be meteoric. She wants to be an entrepreneur, and create solutions. “I am going to change the world with solutions that improve day-to-day lives and the planet. The future will only decide what I will build, but I will be solving real-world problems,” vows the teen inventor.

Follow Prisha Shroff on Linkedin

Reading Time: 7 min

California teen Adarsh Ambati uses AI to save water

(November 19, 2022) In 2018, then 13-year-old Adarsh Ambati's life came temporarily to a standstill when his mum suffered a third-degree heart block. Adarsh recalls seeing her connected to wires that were meant to monitor health but didn't allow her to move around. So, Adarsh Ambati, now the founder of the Green Initiatives Movement, decided to develop a portable, cost-effective device that could monitor vital signs without hampering mobility. Nine months later, the prototype for the vital signs monitor was ready. By the time he won the prestigious Gloria Barron Prize in 2021, Adarsh had also devised the Community Sprinkler and started an Amphibian Biodiversity Protection Initiative. [caption id="attachment_24431" align="aligncenter" width="545"] Adarsh Ambati[/caption] The Contactless Monitor Now a freshman at Stanford University, Adarsh's first project, the Contactless Monitor, was ready nine months after his mother's illness. Fortunately, her mobility had been restored, so Adarsh ran over 1000 tests on his protype, as part of a 40-participant pilot study. "It took me around nine months to develop the device and build an app with notifications so doctors could use it, but also regular people," he told The Guardian. "Because it's contactless and relatively portable, it could even be used to detect

Even as a teenager, the young Global Indian was especially perceptive of the world around him, alive to its problems and eager to find solutions, which he does using his deep interest in technology and coding. Growing up in California, he noticed his neighbours using automatic sprinklers, using vast amounts of precious water on landscaping.

A low-cost community sprinkler alert system

"While going to school in the rain one day, I saw one of my neighbours with their sprinklers on, creating run-offs," he told Vintage Billboard. "Through research, I found that 25 percent of the water used in an average American household is wasted each day due to overwatering and inefficient watering methods."

In 2016, Adarsh began work on a prototype for a smart, low-cost, community sprinkler alert system. When he conducted a two-month pilot with 10 neighbouring homes, he found they had the potential to save some 50,000 gallons of water in a couple of months. "The sprinkler system is compliant with water regulations, to cost-effectively save water for entire neighbourhoods using a Raspberry Pi, moisture sensors, PyOWM (weather database) and by utilising free social media networks like Twitter," he added.

The idea was to save the excess water that is wasted during general-purpose irrigation. The device can detect and integrate real-time weather forecast data to provide the optimum levels of water. It doesn't stop there. The sprinkler alert system is also connected to social media and can publish information on when to turn on sprinklers and for how long.

The prototype cost about $50, which, incidentally, is less expensive than the higher-end smart sprinklers. By Adarsh's estimate, it can be brought down to about five cents or less per household, since the device can serve an entire community.

A scalable model

Some 83 percent of water used in outdoor landscaping can be saved, a huge deal in Northern California, 100 gallons of water is used for outdoor landscaping everyday, in an average household. The sprinkler alert system was also presented to the San Jose City Council, who even considered installing the system in their public grass areas.

Recognition found Adarsh in 2019, when he won MagPi Magazine's Coolest Projects USA competition. Phil Colligan, the CEO of Raspberry Pi, also expressed his support. In 2021, he received the prestigious Gloria Barron Prize. Adarsh is also the founder of Gro-STEMS, which sells succulents to support technology training at San Jose's LifeMoves Homeless Shelter and Aarti Girls School for abandoned children in Kadapa, India.

Reading Time: 6 mins

Adrit Rao: Indian-American teen using AI to revolutionise healthcare

(March 31, 2024) "During the Covid-19 pandemic, a single smartphone app averted up to 900,000 covid cases in just Wales and England. This single app reached the smartphones of 21 million people and made an impact by performing automatic contact tracing and helping people feel safe during the pandemic. For every 1 percent increase in the number of this app's download, there was a reduction in 2.3 percent reduction in Covid cases," says Adrit Rao during TEDxGunnHighSchool, emphasising the revolution in how innovation can reach people instantly at scale around the world. Palo Alto-based Adrit might be young but he is on a mission to revolutionise healthcare through the use of AI. [caption id="attachment_36917" align="aligncenter" width="540"] Adrit Rao[/caption] At the age when most of his friends and classmates were playing with Lego, Adrit was toying with block programming. This was his introduction to computer science and coding when he was only eight. "I found it fun because it was very visual." Soon he progressed to app development. At 13, the Global Indian began his research internship with Stanford University and soon became one of the youngest students honoured by Apple during its annual Swift Student Challenge for his ability to

13, the Global Indian began his research internship with Stanford University and soon became one of the youngest students honoured by Apple during its annual Swift Student Challenge for his ability to push the boundaries of technology and provide solutions for people worldwide.

It earned him the chance to meet Apple CEO Tim Cook, a meeting that left him "super excited." "I was just actually around two to three weeks into my app development journey, Honestly, that experience motivated me to continue my journey," he said in an interview.

Love for coding and app development

When the Covid-19 pandemic hit the world, Adrit had a lot of time on hand and was keen to explore coding on a deeper level that can help have an impact on people. He turned to YouTube and online resources for additional knowledge and began working on developing apps. "I was inspired by how technology was solving major problems around the world and that's when I thought of apps on the App Store and how apps are accessible and reach so many people," he said. He began with MoTV, which was designed as a platform for discovering movies and TV shows. Following its success, he moved on to his second creation, ShopQuik which could determine the wait time at local grocery stores during the pandemic. "I did that so that you could minimise exposure to infectious diseases."

Later, he went on to develop Signer, an AI-powered app that translates sign language into speech with the help of an iPhone camera. He began by researching statistics on the number of deaf people around the world and the communication gap between deaf and non-deaf communities. "Around that time, Apple had just introduced hand pose tracking and classification at WWDC using their machine learning models. So, I could train my own AI algorithm on that new technology to enable the sign-to-speech conversion," he added.

Using AI to create an impact

Ever since he joined Stanford for a research internship, he has been building AI-powered apps for healthcare. "I use AI to make the apps work," he said, elaborating on the two sides of AI. "I have seen what it can do to help, especially in healthcare. Signer itself is proof of the positive impacts that AI has. Just like any powerful tool, it can be used for good and bad," says Adrit, who is the founder of Aretech Inc, a nonprofit that teaches app development to young people. His commitment to

Currently, he has five apps on the App Store that aim to solve real-world problems and create an impact in society. For the past three years, he has devoted himself to creating inclusive applications that utilize AI for diagnosing vascular diseases. Adrit's passion for integrating AI into healthcare shines through in his latest endeavour focusing on abdominal aneurysms. He delves into the deployment of cutting-edge models and algorithms for diagnosis and prognosis, underscoring the transformative potential these technologies hold for conventional diagnostic approaches.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONXmYJl6O5k

Moreover, his remarkable creation, AutoABI, stands out as an iPhone application capable of identifying peripheral arterial disease through the analysis of arterial sounds. This groundbreaking technology is presently undergoing clinical trials and the patenting process. Currently working on its patent, he calls it a passion project. "It showed me how I was able to apply my app development and AI knowledge to actually build a medical solution, which was able to be put into clinics and tested and now has the ability to reach so many people," he said in an interview.

The high school student, who loves playing basketball, started his journey after stumbling upon an article that opened up a Pandora's box on the potential of AI to transform healthcare and now years later, he is glad to be working in the field and creating an impact in the world. He believes it's important to find a problem that is closer to your heart so that one doesn't leave any stone unturned in finding the solution. "The main goal in developing an app is solving a problem in an accessible manner so that your innovation reaches the people."

Follow Adrit Rao on LinkedIn