2019 seems the year of Indian American girls. Since the onset of 2019, we have added stories of several Indian American girls and their achievements to our continued series of Young Indians at Travel Beats, a community portal for Indians in the US by Indian Eagle Travel.

This article about four Indian American teen girls among the 2019 Regeneron Science Talent Search finalists is a story of their commitments to keep the earth green and safe through low-cost, accessible solutions to environmental issues including various types of pollution. Though these four desi girls could not make it among the 2019 Regeneron Science Talent Search winners, they are awarded $25,000 each for their unique, innovative approaches towards mitigating the direst threats to the existence of life on earth.

Anjali Chadha

One of the Regeneron Science Talent Search finalists in 2019, Anjali Chadha from Louisville, Kentucky is awarded $25,000 for her groundbreaking device that helps detect arsenic in well waters. Consumption of arsenic-rich water is leading cause of cancer in the developing countries including India, where millions of people depend on well water sources. A significant population of rural India has no other option than using arsenic-contaminated water because of acute water crisis. 16-year-old Anjali Chadha’s low-cost, portable device can help over one billion people accurately detect arsenic and measure its quantity in the water sources they have access to.

Anjali’s discovery of arsenic in the groundwater within 90 miles of her neighborhood compelled her to develop the sensor. During her research on harmful effects of arsenic in water, she came to know that about 50 million Americans are at risks of arsenic contamination as they primarily depend on well water sources. Indian American Anjali Chadha is a bioengineering career enthusiast. Featured in the award-winning documentary ‘Science Fair’, Anjali Chadha is a budding Bharatanatyam exponent. Her nonprofit ‘Empowered’ trains underserved high school girls in technological skills.

Preeti Sai Krishnamani

Among the 2019 Regeneron Science Talent Search finalists, Preeti Sai Krishnamani received $25,000 for her unflinching commitment to remove arsenic contamination in rice. A resident of Hockessin in Delaware, 17-year-old Preeti found that if soil minerals are enhanced, it can help bind arsenic components to the soil and thereby preventing contamination of rice plants. She has created a solution – silicon amendments – with rice husk and rice husk ash, which are usually dumped as wastes from rice cultivation. These can be recycled to enhance soil minerals of paddy fields against arsenic contamination.

While researching on potential solutions to reduce arsenic toxicity in rice plants, Preeti found that rice husk ash, a burnt byproduct of rice production, helps bind up arsenic and prevent it from spreading to rice plants through water by increasing iron-oxide minerals in the soil. Her solution, once perfected, will bring in a revolution in Asian countries where a significant number of people are exposed to health risks of arsenic-contaminated rice consumption. Indian American Preeti Sai Krishnamani aspires to be a social entrepreneur in agricultural technology.

Navami Jain

$25,000 is awarded to Navami Jain of Charlotte, one of the Regeneron Science Talent Search finalists 2019, for her relentless effort to produce bioethanol from agricultural waste products. Bioethanol, a biodegradable and nontoxic type of biofuel, is an environment-friendly alternative to conventional fossil fuels. Why ethanol production is currently not encouraged is because food crops like corn are mainly used to produce ethanol. Indian American Navami Jain’s research shows that it is inexpensive to produce bioethanol from wheat straw.

A student at the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, Navami Jain aspires to major in biochemistry or chemical engineering. She co-edits her school’s STEM journal titled Broad Street Scientific. She is also cofounder of an ecommerce portal selling organic food waste for feeding cattle.

Sai Preethi Mamidala

17-year-old Sai Preethi Mamidala of Pennsylvania is honored with the same award for her extensive studies on optimal catalysts to make renewable energy sources more accessible. The rising level of fossil-fuel pollution in India compelled her to experiment with ways to bridge the gap between the amount of reviewable energy required to reduce people’s use of non-renewable energy and the amount of renewable energies currently being produced in the developing countries like India.

A senior at Garnet Valley High School, Indian American Sai Preethi Mamidala is hell-bent on creating efficient storage regeneration processes to promote the use of renewable energy, as part of her commitment to save the planet from fossil-fuel pollution. An avid STEM advocate, Sai Preethi aspires to make it big in energy engineering.

Travel Beats, a subsidiary of Indian Eagle, publishes latest visa, immigration, passport, aviation and Indian diaspora news stories. A leading travel booking partner of Indians in USA, Indian Eagle not only guarantees lowest airfares for flights to India but also strives to promote achievements of Indian community in North America. 

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More and more young Indian Americans in STEM are emerging into national spotlight for their mathematical wizardry. ‘Human Calculator’ Apoorva Panidapu from California stunned the international audience with her incredible math-solving skills on the NBC show, Genius Junior in 2018. Again in 2018, three Indian American school students swept away top prizes at the International Olympiad in Math, History and Physics. The latest sensations in the US world of STEM are the World Science Foundation Scholars for 2019, including two Indian American students with outstanding math skills.

Recently, the World Science Foundation in New York published the first list of 45 high school seniors and juniors, including two Indian American girls from Charlotte – Aakriti Lakshmanan and Saanchi Sampath – who will act as scholars and network with leading scientists at the World Science Festival 2019 this summer.   

Aakriti Lakshmanan (left), Saanchi Sampath (right). Picture Credit: The Charlotte Observer

Instituted in 2008, the World Science Festival takes place in New York City every summer. A meeting point for scientists, students, artists and civilians to celebrate Science, the World Science Festival has branched out to such activities as the World Science Scholars program which is meticulously designed to create a network of brilliant high school sophomores and juniors for science and math projects.

World Science Scholars 2019: Indian American Girls in STEM 

A sophomore at Ardrey Kell High School in Charlotte, North Carolina, Aakriti Lakshmanan is a versatile teen with several awards and accolades in her treasure. Her research on water-related science projects has been recognized by several prestigious institutions. Like most of the World Science Scholars 2019, Aakriti Lakshmanan has participated in various math competitions, like Math Olympiad. She also studied at Metrolina Regional Scholars Academy, a K-8 charter school for extraordinary students. Indian American Lakshmanan has written about the Shoelace Theorem, a formula for calculating the area of polygon.

The other Charlotte-based Indian American among the World Science Scholars for 2019, Saanchi Sampath is a chess enthusiast. A sophomore at Myers Park High School, Saanchi heads the school chess club and offers lessons on the game. She discovered her love for math while preparing for the SAT examination as part of Duke’s talent search in the 7^th grade. The only girl in the AP computer science class, Saanchi Sampath had been a STEM intern at Discovery Place in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Also Check: These Kids Win National Bravery Awards 2019

The World Science Scholars 2019 have been selected on the strength of their mathematical expertise. They are given an opportunity to put on their thinking caps, explore new disciplines and apply their merits to dealing with challenging ideas. Those who successfully complete the program at the World Science Festival are inducted into a global community of noted professionals, esteemed alumni, and talented math students. The program helps the scholars broaden their perspectives to spark epoch-making innovations.

The Indian American World Science Scholars for 2019 have not been exempt from the biased attitude towards girls in STEM. When they tell people they aspire to make it big in math or science, they are inundated with remarks, “How easy will it be for you?” However, they are sanguine about the changing scenario that the World Science Festive is trying to accelerate.

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We are glad to add two Indian American teens – Malika Rawal and Simran Bhargava – to our ever-growing community of young Indian achievers. 15-year-old Malika and 14-year-old Simran from the Indian community of Charlotte in North Carolina are on a mission to improve sanitation standards in economically disadvantaged communities.

Charlotte-based Simran Bhargava and Malika Rawal are among the few young Indian Americans who have gone extra miles to make their humanitarian initiatives permanent missions by founding non-profit organizations to help underprivileged groups and impoverished communities with basic needs. Malika and Simran co-founded HelpHygiene to accomplish their mission of educating people on sanitation and raise funds to eradicate sanitation crisis in backward areas.

They have raised $6000 and collected 1200 toiletry items over the past seven months, an initial step towards their mission. Even the other members of the Help Hygiene Foundation, who are directly or indirectly associated with the mission, are conducting fund collection and sanitary education drives. The fund is utilized to support campaigns on sanitation education and buy bedding and shoes for the underprivileged.

The seeds of HelpHygiene were sown into the mind of Malika Rawal, on her first trip to Delhi, India. While exploring slum areas in and around the capital of India, she met with a grim reality to her utter surprise. She came across kids wearing only undergarments and walking in the dirt without shoes. She found many families with ‘devastating living standards.’ Water, a most basic need of life, is an unaffordable luxury for them.

On return to Charlotte from Delhi, Malika shared her unpleasant experience with Simran Bhargava and proposed the idea of creating a non-profit foundation to her. Simran took interest in it because she too had witnessed repulsive pictures of poor sanitation in poverty-ridden areas during her visits to India. They joined hands to make a difference in the lives of those suffering from consequences of poor sanitation, which resulted in the foundation of HelpHygiene.

Read More Stories of Philanthropy by Indian Americans

9^th grader Malika Rawal and 8^th grader Simran Bhargava are planning a trip to India during the Christmas Holiday this year end, in order to visit pre-schools in the economically disadvantaged areas of Delhi, educate the students and their families on the importance of sanitation, and supply them with toiletries and other stuff for hygiene in day-to-day life.

The founders of HelpHygiene conduct membership drives from time to time. The first such drive was conducted on June 11 in Charlotte, and 30 new members joined the mission of HelpHygiene. The second membership drive is scheduled to take place on August 7. Those who are interested in the humanitarian goals of HelpHygiene in Charlotte  can catch up with Malika and Simran online at 6 PM on Wednesdays.

‘Donate Your Birthday,’ one of the noble initiatives by Malika and Simran, is a good opportunity for you to contribute to the mission of HelpHygiene in Charlotte. You can request your family, friends and relatives to donate to HelpHygiene on your birthday, instead of receiving gifts from them. Your birthday can be a happy occasion to make the world a clean, hygienic and livable place for the poor. Or, you can write to them at HelpHygieneFoundation@gmail.com, seeking to participate in or donate to their mission.  – Indian Eagle

Travel Beats is an Indian American community portal by Indian Eagle, a leading international travel organization. We celebrate the achievements of young Indians and publish the Indian Diaspora news besides sharing updates on air travel, India tourism, US visa and immigration.

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