Gitanjali Rao - Time Kid Of The Year

Student scientist and inventor Gitanjali Rao is Time Magazine’s first “Kid of the Year”

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"A 15-year-old Colorado high school student and young scientist who has used artificial intelligence and created apps to tackle contaminated drinking water, cyberbullying, opioid addiction and other social problems has been named Time Magazine’s first-ever “Kid of the Year.”

Gitanjali Rao, a sophomore at STEM School Highlands Ranch in suburban Denver who lives in the city of Lone Tree, was selected from more than 5,000 nominees in a process that culminated with a finalists’ committee of children, Time for Kids reporters and comedian Trevor Noah. ...

Time said Rao stood out for creating a global community of young innovators and inspiring them to pursue their goals. Rao insists that starting out small doesn’t matter, as long as you’re passionate about it. Rao’s innovating started early. At age 12, she developed a portable device to detect lead in water.

She’s created a device called Epione that diagnoses prescription opioid addiction at an early stage. She’s also devised an app called Kindly that uses artificial intelligence to help prevent cyberbullying. It allows teens to type in a word or phrase to find out if the words they’re using are bullying and lets them decide to edit what they’re sending or to proceed."
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Congratulations to the young lady and her parents who encouraged her spirit of scientific inquiry.

This link has the text of Gitanjali's interview with Angelina Jolie:
Meet TIME's First-Ever Kid of the Year

Very nice to read the interview. I especially liked the part where she talks about the innovation workshops she runs and has recently crossed the 30,000 mark in the number of students she has mentored.

After the interview, the page has the list of 4 honorees (there were 5 finalists). The honorees also have extremely inspiring stories to share.