Global Indianstory Global Indian ExclusivePriyal Agrawal’s SexEd tech platform grabs attention of Government of South Korea

Priyal Agrawal’s SexEd tech platform grabs attention of Government of South Korea

Written by: Amrita Priya

(August 30, 2022) Toxic relationships are not very uncommon these days. As a 25-year-old, Priyal has seen many of her peers in such relationships for years, ultimately seeking professional help and support to come out of it. What finally triggered her to launch StandWeSpeak, her SexEd tech platform, was the incidence of abortion of a young acquaintance who was also mentally and physically abused in her relationship. It has been just nine months into the venture and Priyal’s startup has taken her places. From being invited to promote social and gender equality at the World Bank Group Youth Summit 2022 to being approached by UNDP to share her journey, her initiative has garnered attention at the right places. The Diana awardee is now stationed in South Korea for a three-and-a-half months’ accelerator program.

StandWeSpeak has been selected as top 60 in the K-Startup Grand Challenge, a global accelerator startup programme by the Government of South Korea as part of solution for the country’s problems.

Indian Social Entrepreneur | Priyal Agrawal | Global Indian

Priyal Agrawal, founder, StandWeSpeak

Priyal appears excited about the opportunity as she connects from Seoul. “It’s not just a great opportunity but huge validation of my efforts that the government of South Korea is supporting and helping to establish my company here,” Priyal tells Global Indian. “This motivates me to do better as we got chosen amongst thousands of applications received globally,” she says.

The purpose

“As a society, we are not allowed to discuss relationships openly and that is why it takes longer for people to end abusive relationships,” says Priyal. Her initiative equips people with life-skills required to take care of their well-being, relationships, mental and sexual health. It empowers youngsters to make informed decisions. “It’s a 21^st century sexual health ecosystem for millennials and Gen Z,” she tells.

Through an anonymous chatbot, Talk to Mae, an AI-driven sexual and reproductive health expert, youngsters seeking help can get accurate medical and legal answers. The platform offers knowledge on vital issues through informative videos, bio-degradable menstrual hygiene and sexual health products, and judgement-free, consultancy service from gynaecologists, counsellors, sexologists, intimacy experts and lawyers.

Journey so far

“I did not register my organisation as an NGO because when something is provided for free, people do not value it enough. I did not want that to happen to my initiative,” says the entrepreneur, who works from Goa. In the course of nine months, StandWeSpeak has handled 15,000 chatbot interactions and has conducted workshops of 10,000 youngsters in schools and colleges.

Priyal Agrawal in a school workshop

“Youngsters are able to find anything and everything about love, gender, intimacy, relationships, sexuality, consent, and much more,” says Priyal, who enjoyed short stints as psychological first aid provider in Tihar jail, Delhi and as a counsellor at Samaritans, a suicide prevention helpline in Goa before starting her venture.

Hiccups along the way…

The psychology graduate from Mumbai’s Sapphire College is the first entrepreneur in her family and it took quite a bit of convincing. By then, she had tried a number of things, from preparing for IIT and trying her hand at architecture for a year before ultimately studying Psychology.

“As a young woman in India, starting a venture is not easy. People do not accept the idea readily. It is considered a passion or side project until the time the girl gets married,” says Priyal. “People advised me to go for a masters first or think of something else as I didn’t have experience or expertise of running a company.”

Also, the domain that she chose to work does not get recognised as important or considered in a need of a solution. “India is conservative of talking about sexual health, wellness and providing sexual education to youngsters,” she rues. However, to be recognised at global platforms has added immense strength to her confidence in her choice of venture.

More inclusivity in future

“The need exists and young people are looking for solutions,” says Priyal. She was confident about it looking at the youngsters around. Starting with a bootstrap budget, she learned to design the initial version of the platform. Later, when her team expanded, it interspersed AI with counselling of the gender inclusive platform that is being used even by members of the LGBTQ community.

Apart from the expansion plans in South Korea, Priyal is planning to make StandWeSpeak more inclusive so that even people with physical disabilities can access the services through features like voice search option. She is looking at producing informative videos which would also have the sign language component so that it can reach a wider audience. Having multilingual services in India is also one of her plans. Priyal wants to promote her services worldwide someday but for now, is taking things one step at a time.

Follow Priyal Agrawal on LinkedIn and Twitter
Follow StandWeSpeak on Instagram, Twitter and its website

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Published on 30, Aug 2022

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Racing to put Indian motorsports on the global map – Arjun Maini, Yash Aradhya & Karun Chandok

(December 31, 2021) The news of the first all-Indian team to compete internationally at the 2021 Asian Le Mans in February sent ripples of anticipation among Indian racers. The all-Indian driver line-up of Narain Karthikeyan, Arjun Maini and Naveen Rao came in fifth place, and spurred the racing aspirations of many. New technology, new drivers, and hopefully more corporate involvement are what we can expect in the future. We need to break away from cricket being sold as the only sport in India. - Gaurav Gill Of course, the memory of Formula 1 great Michael Schumacher wheel to wheel with Jean Alesi in a tarmac crunch to the chequered flag at the 1995 Europe Grand Prix, is still among the most memorable moments for racing aficionados, etched in many minds. Finally, India too has taken to a sport that is not cricket. Many youngsters are training, learning and being mentored to be the next Schumacher (or close), and it is a sign of the growing popularity of motorsports in India. Ten years after that 1995 scene, Coimbatore-born Narain Karthikeyan scripted history by becoming the first Indian to debut at Formula 1, inspiring the current generation to get behind the wheel

a 1, inspiring the current generation to get behind the wheel of a mean machine that can go insanely fast around a corner.
The adrenaline rush, blind cuts, and need for speed keeps every racer revving. However, the lack of sponsors and expensive gear often play spoilsport, thus nipping many dreams in the bud. Perhaps, this most expensive sport in the world is finding stable footing in India with a handful of young Indians revving up at the start line, and pushing the gas pedal on greater accomplishments.

The young blood

This October, the 23-year-old racer Arjun Maini became the first Indian to make a podium debut at the DTM Championship after claiming second place at the Norisring (Nuremburg) race circuit. “For me, it was a very special moment to be the first Indian driver in DTM and I am very proud of it,” tweeted Maini.

Arjun Maini, the Bengaluru boy started with go-karts when he was eight, thanks to his racer dad Gautam Maini, who once participated in the national championships. It was in 2011 that Arjun Maini made headlines when he won the Sahara Force India’s One from a Billion talent, and since then there has been no looking back for this lad.

If Arjun Maini is vrooming through unchartered territory with each of his races, his younger brother Kush Maini, too, is busy taking the legacy forward as he made his debut at the World Endurance Championship in Bahrain this year. Following the footsteps of his brother, the 21-year-old began his journey with the national karting championship before graduating to cars in 2015. In no time, he made waves in the European racing circuits by competing in the Italian Formula 4 championship, and British Formula 3 championship. However, it was this year’s Formula 3 Asian Championship where his team Mumbai Falcons did the unthinkable by clinching a third place at Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi. “The year 2021 Asian F3 Championship has not been the smoothest of rides, had a lot of engine issues throughout the campaign and some unlucky moments but all the credit goes to @mumbaifalcons who never stopped believing in my capability and we finished off the championship strong with a podium. A historic moment for Indian motorsports and it’s been a pleasure to be a part of it,” he wrote on his Instagram after the historic podium finish.

A universe of opportunities

If the Maini brothers found inspiration through their father, 19-year-old Formula 4 racer Yash Aradhya’s love for motorsport stemmed from his need for speed. The recipient of the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar, Yash’s passion began at nine years of age, and despite no family background in motorsport, the teenager dived into the game out of sheer love. “I started with karting and here I am,” the Bengaluru-born teenager tells Global Indian Youth.

Each year, new names crop up, and sponsors are at the heart of this expensive sport, and a deep bank balance too. “Motorsports is an expensive sport but I wouldn’t say the same anymore as opportunities are being given at the grassroot level. You have a chance of being picked up and taken forward as long as it’s backed by the performance that helps the sponsors and investors put their faith in you,” adds Yash, who has dreams of becoming a Formula 1 racer.

It’s been a decade since Indian racer Karun Chandok turned up the heat on the racing track in Formula 1, but new blood is now gearing up to test the waters by putting themselves on the biggest platform. It’s the plethora of opportunities that have made these youngsters confident of their skills and talent. “The new generation is quite lucky as there are so many opportunities for us in India, and the costs are low. We get the European standard of racing in India with European drivers coming in and giving us the best exposure and opportunity to prove ourselves and gain experience,” adds Aradhya.

Like Yash, Jehan Daruvala, too, was just nine when he found motorsports. Spanish Formula 1 driver Fernando Alonso kept Jehan glued to the Formula 1 track as a child. Now, a decade later, like his racing hero, he is all set to knock the doors of Formula 1. At the cusp of achieving his childhood dream, the 23-year-old has come a long way. From excelling in karting championships across Europe in 2013 to transitioning to cars in 2015, he has proven his mettle time and again. So much so that he has found a fan in Arjuna Award-winner and racer Gaurav Gill. “Jehan is doing great at the world level in Formula racing,” says Gaurav Gill, who won the Asia Pacific Rally Championship thrice and Indian National Rally Championship six times.

The future is bright

It was in the early 2000s that Gill started competing at the national level, and in the past two decades, this 40-year-old racer has seen the Indian motorsport scene evolve. “Motorsport has evolved from being a hobby to a career sport especially after my Arjuna Award. The younger generation can now look at it being a full-time job/sport,” says Gill.

Gill, who calls motorsports an ever-evolving sport, is excited about the future. “New technology, new drivers, and hopefully more corporate involvement are what we can expect in the future. We need to break away from cricket being sold as the only sport in India. We see so many Olympians now, and I hope to see lots more motorsport engagement soon,” says the racer who has started his own school to groom aspiring racers to hone their skills.

As more and more Indian-origin youth foray into the world of motorsports, India is finally ready to get past the chequered flag once again in the international circuit. One race at a time.

Reading Time: 5 mins

From classroom to startup: Yale grads Sneha and Anushka turn class project into a tech company

(November 6, 2024) What began as a class project has grown into a startup for recent Yale engineering graduates Sneha Sivakumar and Anushka Nijhawan. During their senior year, the two developed an AI-powered no-code automation tool designed to simplify and speed up the process of testing web applications without manual coding. Their innovative solution enables companies with web-based applications to verify functionality seamlessly, a concept that quickly gained recognition. Supported early on by a $500 grant from Yale’s Tsai CITY Student Exploration Fund and recently accepted into Y Combinator’s elite accelerator program with $500,000 in funding, the duo took their idea to the next level. This May, shortly after graduating with degrees in Computer Science, Sneha and Anushka officially launched their startup, Spur, building on the foundation of their college project. “A lot of companies spend a lot of time writing tests for their web applications, and our entire company is about automating that process and making it really easy,” Sivakumar explained in a recent interview. [caption id="attachment_40212" align="aligncenter" width="647"] Anushka and Sneha[/caption] From class project to startup Sneha and Anushka enjoyed working with each other on different projects since their first year in college. “We first met freshman spring

ian.com/youth/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/1727374002020.webp" alt="Y Combinator | Indian Entrepreneur | Global Indian " width="647" height="431" /> Anushka and Sneha[/caption]

From class project to startup

Sneha and Anushka enjoyed working with each other on different projects since their first year in college. “We first met freshman spring at Yale,” remarked Sneha. As their first project, the innovative duo built a social planning application location for fun.

After working on several other projects, the youngsters realised that they really liked working on tasks together and came up with the idea of working on a startup. They decided to work on a user experience research application. “That side of tech companies is typically very underserved. We thought we could come up with a solution that would fix that problem,” shared Anushka. “We worked for three months during the fall semester in 2023 on the idea. Part of that was because we were taking this class at Yale called Software Engineering, which allowed us very dedicated, focused time throughout the semester to actually build it out in tandem with our other classes.”

Seeing their project come out well, they applied for the Y Combinator at the end of their last semester, and the rest is history.

[caption id="attachment_40213" align="aligncenter" width="513"] Anushka and Sneha[/caption]

What is Y Combinator?

Y Combinator (YC) is a top-tier startup accelerator that offers a three-month, high-intensity program aimed at rapidly scaling early-stage companies. It provides $500,000 in funding in exchange for a seven percent equity stake and includes tailored mentorship and a collaborative startup environment.

YC brings together founders at various stages—some just beginning, others more established—and pairs them with experienced partners for weekly guidance, along with bi-weekly group sessions. Founders connect via Bookface, YC’s exclusive platform for networking and knowledge-sharing, and participate in events like weekly talks from successful entrepreneurs, providing insights into startup growth and strategy. The program culminates in Demo Day, where founders pitch their startups to leading investors, often securing additional seed funding. Even after the program ends, YC alumni continue to benefit from ongoing support and access to YC’s extensive network, creating a lasting support ecosystem for continued growth.

“In YC, there's about 200 to 300 companies every single batch and they break these companies into different groups. So, it builds a community in which everybody is working on all of their startups together,” explains Sneha.

[caption id="attachment_40214" align="aligncenter" width="724"] Sneha and Anushka[/caption]

Help and support from other sources

Sneha and Anushka’s journey in creating Spur was bolstered by crucial support networks and resources at Yale. Assistant Professor Arman Cohan’s mentorship was instrumental, beginning with his class on AI Foundation Models, which inspired the pair to work with him on their senior thesis.

Throughout their last semester, Professor Cohan offered ongoing guidance, connecting them with other industry experts and helping shape their project. Additionally, a $500 grant from Yale’s Tsai CITY Student Exploration Fund provided them with vital workspace and resources. The fund, which awards grants of up to $500 to student-led teams working on early-stage innovation and entrepreneurship projects, became essential for Sneha and Anushka as they refined their product. With a collaborative workspace at Tsai CITY available daily, they had the ideal environment for brainstorming, teamwork, and advancing Spur to launch readiness.

[caption id="attachment_40215" align="aligncenter" width="728"] Anushka and Sneha during a Y Combinator launch live event[/caption]

Taking entrepreneurship in stride

Sneha Sivakumar and Anushka Nijhawan’s journey of building Spur has been challenging and a learning experience for the young entrepreneurs. They admit that taking the plunge into full-time entrepreneurship was nerve-wracking, but once they committed, everything came into focus.

Now, each day is a new lesson—not just in engineering but in marketing, sales, accounting, HR, and tax management, as they are currently handling all aspects of the business themselves. “We're just picking them up as we go,” remarks Anushka talking about the multiple skills that an entrepreneur’s life demands.

Although their life as an entrepreneur is far cry from their initial roles as developers, and while the hours are long and the work demanding, the youngsters find fulfillment in building something truly their own. Embracing the highs and the challenges alike, they’re learning that startup life is about so much more than just innovating something —it’s about adaptability, and the drive to bring their vision to life.

Follow Sneha Sivakumar and Anushka Nijhawan on LinkedIn
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Aisha Nazia: The only Indian woman to be selected for FIFA Master course

One of Aisha Nazia's fondest memories is of her standing in a crowd and watching a football match with bated breath. As her favorite team scored the perfect goal, the Kozhikode-born football fan was euphoric. Her hometown is a mecca for football and it wasn't long before love for the game rubbed off on Nazia, who has now been selected for the prestigious FIFA Master program. She is the only Indian woman out of the 32 people that were selected from across the world for the program. Chosen out of 700 applicants, Nazia has become an inspiration for dreamers as well as go-getters. A postgraduate sports executive program, organized in partnership with De Montfort University (United Kingdom), SDA Bocconi School of Management (Italy) and the University of Neuchatel (Switzerland), the FIFA Master course is nothing short of an Ivy league program. The 26-year-old Indian has made the cut this year, but not without her share of struggles and challenges. As she quit a lucrative job to pursue her dreams, Nazia didn't find many supporters, but she was determined to follow through on her plan. How a childhood dream found wings Born in Kozhikode to Malayalam Muslim parents, Nazia found herself

im parents, Nazia found herself attracted to the game even as a child. After her parents' divorce when she was five, Nazia moved to Chennai with her mother who was then a teacher. But summer vacations took her back to her hometown each year where she fell in love with football. "I loved the way football brought the entire town together and it was the best show of secularism. It was at this tender age that my affinity towards football began to grow," she tells Global Indian in an exclusive interview from London where she has kick started the first leg of her course.

[caption id="attachment_10971" align="aligncenter" width="392"] Aisha Nazia at Old Trafford Stadium, Manchester[/caption]

While the soccer field made Nazia quite happy, she was equally ecstatic nestled between her pile of books. After securing the eighth rank in mechanical engineering at University of Kerala, she found herself working with the Indian Oil-Adani Group Pvt Ltd in Kochi in 2017. Two years before she entered the corporate world though, Nazia had volunteered as a football facilitator for the 2015 National Games that were held in Kerala. Then a third year student at TKM College of Engineering, she heard about the games being held in her city and couldn't let the opportunity slip by. "It gave me the perfect exposure to the sporting industry and the workings of it," she adds.

The turning point

Though her job at Indian Oil kept her happy, she would often find herself drawn to the varied sporting events taking place in the country. So when the FIFA Under 17 World Cup was set to make its debut on Indian soil, Nazia found herself looking for volunteer opportunities on their website. Despite the fact that she didn't have a sports management degree, Nazia rolled the dice of fate and applied for the role of a workforce manager. Luck was on her side, and the 26-year-old found herself at one of the biggest sporting spectacles. Those months with FIFA turned out to be a game changer for this young woman as she learnt the tricks of the trade and found her true calling in sports management. In 2018, she quit her job to chase her dream and moved to Bengaluru.

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Since sporting events in India happen only once every few months, Nazia took up jobs as a consultant with startups to keep her stable financially. In between, she worked on two seasons of the Indian Super League.

When NBA found itself playing in India for the first time ever in 2019, the organizers got in touch with Nazia after reading a feature on her on FIFA. The conversation soon translated into an operations role in logistics.

A chance meeting

After working with the best for a few years and gaining valuable insights into the world of sports management, Nazia knew she was ready to take it a notch higher with the FIFA Master course, something she had heard about six years ago. "While volunteering at the National Games in 2015, a referee from Tamil Nadu who had trained under the Premiere League saw potential in me and encouraged me to take up the FIFA Master course," adds Nazia. But she wanted to give herself four years after her graduation before taking a plunge into any Masters program.

[caption id="attachment_10974" align="aligncenter" width="395"] Aisha Nazia at NBA matches in India.[/caption]

So when the entire world came to a standstill in 2020 and sporting events became a rarity, Nazia knew it was the right time to pursue her FIFA Master dream. "The selection process for this course is like it would be for an Ivy league school. This year 32 students were selected from a pool of 700 applicants across 29+ countries," adds the Kozhikode native. The one year course will have Nazia travel to three countries (England, Italy and Switzerland) to complete her Masters in Management, Law and Humanities of Sport.

Crowdfunding, not charity

If securing a seat among 700 students wasn't a rigorous process, Nazia found herself raising 22,000 CHF (approximately ₹28 lakh) for the course. She is one among the three students to have secured a merit scholarship which has halved her course fee, but the amount is still heavy on her pocket. "In a country like India, you can apply for an education loan against mortgage of property or gold, and I had nothing as security. Crowdfunding seemed like a wise decision to raise money for my education," says Nazia.

It was her mentor Gautham Chattopadhaya, who works with NASA, who advised her to opt for crowdfund. "Abroad, it's a very common concept to raise money for education, but in India, it's still at its nascent stage. I weighed my options for a long time and even posted on LinkedIn to get some feedback. Many encouraged me to go for it as they couldn't pursue their dreams owing to financial constraints. The stories of people on the post made me take it up as a social cause to empower people to follow their dreams. Education is a basic necessity and I decided to go forward with it to raise money and also inspire others to follow their dreams," adds Nazia.

[caption id="attachment_10977" align="aligncenter" width="423"] Aisha Nazia at Indian Super League 2019-2020[/caption]

With GoFundMe inaccessible to Indians, Nazia opted for Ketto to raise money for her education. "In India, crowdfunding is mostly restricted to medical emergencies, so my plea to raise money for education falls a little short in comparison to their issues."

However, this reality check has inspired Nazia to launch an education crowdfunding platform for Indian students soon. "I want to start a platform for people who dream of studying in India or abroad but are unable to do so due to financial constraints. My priority would be to get meritorious students their due through this crowdfunding platform," she explains.

[caption id="attachment_10979" align="aligncenter" width="575"] Aisha Nazia at a sporting event.[/caption]

The future

Nazia, who is currently at De Montfort University in Leicester, is excited for the program. "It will be an enriching experience with lots of learning and field trips. After completing three months in the UK, we will move to Italy for the next quarter. And the last six months will be in Switzerland, which is also the headquarters of FIFA. Getting to work with their management will be exciting. Also, at the end of course, FIFA selects three people for employment," reveals Nazia.

Being an advocate of sustainability, Aisha Nazia plans to work for the development of the Indian sports ecosystem after the completion of her course. "I want to focus on inclusion, youth development and come up with solutions to reduce carbon footprint during a sports event," signs off Nazia.

Reading Time: 7 min

Lavanya Natarajan: A new hope in the fight against methane emissions

(May 14, 2023) "Normally, I feel like we tend to only attribute global warming to just fossil fuel burning, and a lot of times we tend to dismiss issues that we can't see. One of these issues is methane which comes from landfills," says Florida-based Lavanya Natarajan, who is on a mission to decrease methane emission from landfills through her discovery. An affordable and wireless device that she developed in the recent past helped her earn a spot in the top 40 finalists of Regeneron Talent Search 2023. Her device brings a breath of fresh air to the ongoing fight against climate change, and represents the spirit of young scientific minds determined to find practical solutions to the world's most pressing issues. For someone who has been doing science fair projects since the third grade, Lavanya was always looking to find solutions to problems. Always intrigued by the environment, she learnt about climate change at a young age and realised that fossil fuel wasn't the only contributor to the climate crisis. Digging deep, she found that methane gas found in landfills was equally harmful, and was inspired to develop a solution to mitigate the environmental harm caused by landfills. She

ed by landfills. She set her mind to tackling the methane issue, an often overlooked yet potent greenhouse gas that significantly contributes to global warming.

[caption id="attachment_29997" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Lavanya Natarajan[/caption]

Methane gas, while not as prevalent as carbon dioxide, is far more destructive in the short term due to its ability to trap heat in the Earth's atmosphere. Over 20 years, methane is 84 times more potent as a heat-trapping gas than carbon dioxide. Landfills are a major source of methane emissions as organic waste decays under anaerobic conditions, making them a critical target in climate change mitigation efforts.

Lavanya's device aims to address this issue head-on. "A large portion of these methane emissions escape from landfills and they fuel climate change. What I did was develop an IoT system to measure, manage, predict, and mitigate these methane emissions and other landfill metrics in real-time," she said in an interview.

[caption id="attachment_29998" align="aligncenter" width="721"] 2023 Regeneron STS[/caption]

The device, which took three months to build, remotely monitors a landfill's greenhouse gases and measures other parameters like temperature, pressure, altitude and humidity. The information is then sent to an Arduino microcontroller that stores the data and can wirelessly send everything to a dashboard Natarajan created that can be accessed anywhere. According to the Society for Science website, ideally, methane is pumped out of landfills when concentrations get high, but measuring it is cumbersome, so pumping gets delayed, which means that much of the methane escapes. This new device should make it easier to pump out the methane appropriately. She tested her device first in the lab that she set up in her family's garage and later in an actual landfill.

By providing an affordable and efficient solution to the methane problem, Natarajan's device has the potential to revolutionize waste management practices around the globe. While more affluent countries have the resources to implement methane capture and conversion systems, these are often out of reach for developing nations. The simplicity and cost-effectiveness of Natarajan's device could make it a feasible solution for these countries, opening the door to a more inclusive and equitable approach to global climate action.

Lavanya, who is a senior at Viera High School, also teaches coding and mentors kids on how to solve Rubik’s cubes. The global recognition she received at the Regeneron Talent Search 2023 speaks volumes about the significance of her work. At a time when the world grapples with the existential threat of climate change, the need for innovative and accessible solutions like Lavanya's cannot be overstated.

Her story is a testament to the power of young minds and their capacity to drive change. Her journey, from witnessing the environmental struggles of her hometown to becoming a beacon of hope in the fight against climate change, is an inspiration to us all. It serves as a powerful reminder that no matter where we come from, we all have a role to play in preserving our planet for future generations. "By capturing the methane, we can actually use it for power. And overall, I feel like this can help the greenhouse gas effect and it can also reduce the overall temperature by 1.5°C by 2030, which is something they’re doing in the Paris Environmental Agreement," says the teenager who loves singing and playing traditional Indian music.

Follow Lavanya Natarajan on LinkedIn

Reading Time: 4 min

Chaitanya Karamchedu: Indian-American teen finds affordable way to convert seawater into drinking water

(September 27, 2023) "1 in 8 people do not have access to clean water, it's a crying issue that needs to be addressed," said Portland resident Chaitanya Karamchedu. Living in the part of the US where the Willamette River and Columbia River converge, the Indian-American teenager saw that despite the presence of two large water bodies, people still had problems accessing clean water. This nudged the Jesuit High School student to come up with an innovative idea to convert seawater into drinking water, an invention that won him $10,000 at Intel’s International Science Fair. It all began when Chaitanya found that millions of lives are endangered due to a lack of clean and drinkable water, especially in developing countries like India. As per stats, 163 million Indians lack access to safe drinking water. "The best access for water is the sea, so 70 percent of the planet is covered in water and almost all of that is the ocean, but the problem is that's salt water," he said in an interview. For years, the idea of isolating drinking water from saline water has baffled scientists. Moreover, he discovered that desalination was inaccessible in many remote coastal areas due to its

tal areas due to its high implementation costs. This made him more determined to create an economical solution for seawater salination.

The idea struck him in his high school lab. "The real genesis of the idea was realising that seawater is not fully saturated with salt," he revealed. This led him to work with an absorbent polymer to filter out pure water from the water bonded with salt. Unlike traditional thinking that considered seawater as fully saturated with salt, he found that only 10 percent of seawater was actually saline, while the remaining 90 percent remained untapped and not bonded to salt particles. Staying away from conventional desalination efforts, Chaitanya focused on this abundant 90 percent of seawater that was not directly saturated with salt. His goal was to develop a cost-effective method to extract drinkable water from this portion. This novel approach has the potential to revolutionize access to clean and safe drinking water for millions of people worldwide who currently struggle with inadequate water resources.

The widely practiced method of desalination not only faces challenges related to cost but also raises environmental concerns. High energy consumption is one of the primary drawbacks of conventional desalination techniques, which has raised environmental concerns due to its carbon footprint and potential ecological impacts. Chaitanya's innovative approach to desalination, however, offers a promising alternative by being a cost-effective and energy-efficient solution.

If his method proves to be scalable and sustainable, it could not only provide a more environmentally friendly way to produce freshwater but also significantly reduce the economic burden associated with desalination projects. This kind of innovation is essential for ensuring access to clean and safe drinking water while minimising the negative impacts on the environment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1v7Fkcrhmk

Chaitanya, who was also named among the Regeneron Science Talent Research semifinalists, has made a groundbreaking discovery that stands as an example of the power of innovation and dedication in addressing one of humanity's most pressing challenges — access to clean and safe drinking water. His unwavering commitment to finding a solution has the potential to transform the lives of countless individuals around the world.

Reading Time: 4 min