CHENNAI: To celebrate the international day of women and girls in Science, the US consulate general in Chennai, in coordination with US consulates general Hyderabad, Kolkata and Mumbai will feature Gitanjali Rao, an Indian American teen inventor and scientist on February 11 at 6:45 pm. The virtual program, which is the sixth event of U.S. Mission in India’s #DiasporaDiplomacy series, includes the screening of a five-minute American Film Showcase documentary “Search on: Positive Current.” The film highlights one of Rao’s inventions namely a mobile device that detects lead contamination in water.

Garvita Gulhati, a Bengaluru-based environmental activist known as the ‘Water Girl of India’ will interview Rao in the event. She is the founder of the NGO ‘Why Waste?’. Gitanjali is an Indian American who is passionate about science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). In addition to sharing her vision of how STEM girls can change the world, Rao will also discuss about experiential learning opportunities and STEM education in American schools.

“We are excited to host Gitanjali Rao on the International Day of Women and Girls in Science as part of our #DiasporaDiplomacy speaker series. On behalf of the U.S. Mission in India, I applaud Gitanjali for her accomplishments, which serve as an inspiration for youth, especially girls, to consider STEM subjects in their future careers in order to solve global issues. The United States is a leader in STEM education and innovation. We welcome interested students who aspire to study in the United States and transform their dreams into reality”, said Judith Ravin, Consul General of the U.S. Consulate General in Chennai.

Diaspora diplomacy is a program that features Indian-American achievers from different walks of life, who talk about their journeys, highlighting America’s promise through personal and collective prisms. It aims to highlight the extraordinary contributions of the Indian American community in business, academia, politics, space, arts, and civil society. 

Gitanjali Rao is an inventor, aspiring scientist, author, speaker and active promoter of STEM education around the world. She was recognized as America’s

Top Young Scientist and was a recipient of a US Environmental Protection Agency Presidential award for her invention of Tethys, an early lead contamination detection tool. Her invention, an anti-cyberbullying service called Kindly that uses artificial intelligence and natural language processing has made an impact. She was honoured in the Forbes’ 30 Under 30 in Science in 2019 and TIME Magazine’s Top Young Innovator and first-ever Kid of the Year for her innovations and promotion of STEM education. She has inspired over 58,000 students in the last two years across six continents and 37 countries through her workshops.

Gitanjali is the author of the book ‘A Young Innovator’s Guide to STEM’, which guides students and educators through a self-developed prescriptive five-step innovation process. The book is adopted formally as a STEM curriculum in Kakuma Refugee Camp Schools in Kenya and a few high schools in Ghana. She was honored as one of America’s Top Youth Volunteers by Prudential in 2021 and was appointed as a UNICEF youth advocate for using Science to tackle social problems. She recently received a grant as a National Geographic Young Explorer for promoting STEM education.