JOIN USShe finds solutions in science
Exposed to the world of science and innovation from an early age, Arunima Sen, an innovator-cum-technologist from Bengaluru, has dreams that transcend national borders. She aspires to work towards achieving the United Nations Sustainable Goals.
As her parents worked for the Indian Space Research Organisation, she grew up in an environment that ignited her scientific temper and endorsed her curiosity. At 18, Arunima who studied in Kendriya Vidyalaya IISc, Bengaluru has co-developed projects that include a device to non-invasively determine micronutrient levels in the human body using strands of hair, a prototype of an energy-efficient solar hybrid bus, a green building, predictive analytics for optimising barley yield, a sensor-based technology to detect and control poaching, a novel data-driven intervention model to combat malnutrition in India, an integrated wildfire prediction and containment system, and an integrated aircraft system.
Important questions
However, life hasn’t always been rosy for Arunima.
Tending to her autistic brother Snehangsu’s special needs, she would often wonder about the range of problems we humans face and try to come up with solutions. She would spend hours reading about scientific advancements on the internet. One thing that struck her was the inevitability of technology.
So, she hopes to use technology and engineering to positively impact the society. “As youngsters we are the future of this country and the world. We need to come up with solutions,” Arunima says.
She credits her mother Seema for being the rock in her life. Her mother always told her to do something that would last. She would reiterate that every small effort counts.
“At times, she gives up easily and I tell her not to. Often, we do not tell our kids it is OKAY to fail. I advice her to stand up for what she believes in and work hard to achieve it,” Seema says. Arunima is working on a project that allows early detection of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children and another innovation to design health-care technology to improve people’s lifestyle. She aims to develop cost-effective technology that caters to all the socio-economic strata of the society.
Winner
She is the recipient of several national and international awards including the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar, the highest civilian honour for Indian citizens under the age of 18, for her efforts in innovation, and the President’s Gold Medal.
She is also a Yale Young Global Scholars of Yale University and member of the Junior academy of the New York Academy of Sciences.
Kesava Kirupa Dinakaran, a fellow member of Junior academy of the New York Academy of Sciences, who has worked closely with Arunima on award-winning projects, vouches that her work will have an impact on the society as answers to most of our problems lie in science.