The Athena Effect:
The BluePrint in Action.
Shiv founded Scatter Innovations, a successful business venture. He built and programmed three versions of SENSAFE, a patent-pending IoT-enabled gas leak detector. He also programmed FireEscape and illustrated safety guide and developed FireEscape, an educational video game that raised awareness among students from 200+ schools. His Pipe Cleaner robot that could address manual scavenging earned him first prize (~$1700) at the India Innovation Challenge.
Shiv founded HelpOut to support education, healthcare, and water supply of Ladiwali (village). Programmed an online LMS for students from Deepalaya (NGO)
Under Prof. Carlotta Berry, he built and programmed sensor-equipped robots able to communicate and locate survivors during search-and-rescue operations
Navya’s mission was to advocate for human rights across the globe (with lessons from Nazi Germany to Partitioned India), empowering downtrodden communities through art to promote expression, reconciliation, and healing from ugly chapters in history.
Artist/Founder: Project Limitless (2018-2021)
Painted 16 murals in the homes of marginalized people to give them ownership of their narratives and transform their spaces. Organized a team of 250 volunteers across India. She also launched a clothing line of mural designs and raised 50,000 INR toward COVID relief for communities involved.
Authored a study on propaganda and protest art in Theresienstadt Ghetto that was published in the Journal of Student Research. Assisted Trinity University Professor Victoria Aaron’s artwork analysis for a book on female holocaust artists.
Akshal’s profile integrated his passion for public speaking and computer science through an NLP analysis of Indian political speeches. As Head Boy, international debate champion, and a youth activist, he combined his interests in a clear theme and applied with the strategic major of politics (instead of CS) to optimize his likelihood of admission.
Established his own vision care non-profit called Eyetiative that collected 600+ glasses via 5 global chapters. He organized free check-up camps, providing vision care to 500+ underprivileged children in India.
Analyzed use of provocative political rhetoric about CAA to manipulate voters using NLP tools. His research was published in the Journal of Student Research.
Samara Mohan’s capstone was The Light-Up Project, an impact-oriented business where she designed and sold handmade jewelry, lamps, and resin decorations to raise Rs 210,000. With these profits, she covered peripheral costs for medical supplies, surgeries, and check-ups of low-income families camping at AIIMS.
She led a team of 100 to help 500+ teens struggling with mental health challenges by writing articles and conducting seminars.
Conducted official research on the “Perceptions of Indian Residents Towards Factors Influencing Adoption in India”
Strategic Profile Development that showed the scholar’s multifaceted contribution to their school community as they were in a boarding school. Harnessed scholar’s poetic ability to show their potential as literature applicant in essays and activities. Facilitated Sitare internship to strengthen community service angle.
Started Spoken Word Poetry in school for self-expression Research – N/A
Authored a study on propaganda and protest art in Theresienstadt Ghetto. Published in JSR. Assisted Prof. Victoria Aaron’s (Trinity University) artwork analysis for a book on female holocaust artists.
Nikita interviewed women across twelve Indian states, analyzing the obstacles hindering their financial independence and compiled them in a book titled “Blooming.” She used internships at Kivi Capital and Florence capital to deepen her engagement with economics and finance.
Conducted financial literacy workshops for women across social classes.
Published a research paper on the factors that influence Indian women’s financial independence
Maanas founded the Journal of Interdisciplinary Public Policy (JIPP), an international journal for diverse and interdisciplinary youth perspectives on policy. He edited and published 9 editions with 100+ student authors across 5 continents. Designed website & social media garnering 100K interactions. He also founded Countermelody: Tunes for LGBTQ+ India During COVID.
Organized live fundraiser concert of 10+ diverse musicians with a reach of 3M. Raised $3.5K to support the unique struggles of trans-Indians in the pandemic. Co-Founder and Program Director of Seeds2STEM. Held annual inquiry-based STEM event for underserved middle school girls.
Athena identified Arnav as a builder. With his practical approach to the sciences, he loved to take machines apart and put them back together, which did with an entire motorcycle. Using his academic interest in chemicals and machines, founded the Design and Technology Club at his school and spearheaded the establishment of the D&T Lab.
He was the Head Organizer and Mechanic at Honda Motor Company. Through an internship at Honda Studio, Arnav collaborated with Honda to conduct free maintenance drives, servicing 250+ motorbikes and conducting vocational training course.
He conducted college-level research in the Jawaharlal Nehru University Primary on the Aerodynamics of F1 Car Design; conducted and analyzed surveys on aerodynamics in our daily lives.
Empathetic and expressive, Aryan combined his proficiency in computer science with his passion for mental health by creating tools that help neurodivergent people navigate life more easily.
Through his capstone, Project Recognize, he built an Augmented Reality and Machine Learning based emotion recognition tools for children with ASD (including EmoInterpret, attested by internationally certified behavior analyst, Dr. Denise Chua), partnering with 5+ special schools and impacted 2000+ children in 5 countries. He also launched a podcast series called “The ABCs of ASD,” in which he interviewed caregivers and discussed education methods for autistic children.
Aryan analyzed 29 autism caregivers’ views on the efficacy of his app. He created informational videos, coordinated beta-testing with 10 families for 7 days, and collaborated with the Center for Applied Practice in Education to track use by children with ASD.
Stefano synthesized his love for sailing, marine biology, and theater in a strong profile theme by establishing his own aquarium as a teaching tool, leading of team of 25 to inspire environmental sustainability. He was also an experienced sailor and theater performer—these unique hooks helped his essays and profile really stand out.
Through an internship at the Ocean Plastic Prevention Accelerator, Stefano analyzed waste management systems of Indonesia and collaborated with startups to arrive at effective techniques of plastic neutralization.
He conducted research on effects of Biophillia-a psychological phenomenon—to aid conservation outreach. His paper was published in Questioz, an International student-led journal for high-school research.
With his thirst for learning and innovation, Krish’s profile centered around using computer science to transform the future of farming techniques and Indian agriculture.
Krish developed a hybrid Gauss Newton Optimization Algorithm – Long Short Term Memory machine learning model to predict the crop yield of 124 different varieties of crops, which is now deployed as a web application and has assisted 47 farmers (so far).
He authored a research paper titled “Crop yield prediction using a hybrid Long Short-Term Memory-Gauss Newton optimization algorithm” that was published in Lattice – The Machine Learning Journal.
Scholar PROJECTS
The proud accomplishments of our scholars!
Because passion without output is just a hobby
Parth designed an adaptive, rewarding rapid-fire math quiz game app, QuickDigits, to foster arithmetic interest in students, encouraging them to practice through competitive game-play. He partnered with READ India and hosted a 2-day championship with 30 participants. The app currently has 100+ downloads.
University of Cambridge ‘28 | Singapore
Parth designed an adaptive, rewarding rapid-fire math quiz game app, QuickDigits, to foster arithmetic interest in students, encouraging them to practice through competitive game-play. He partnered with READ India and hosted a 2-day championship with 30 participants. The app currently has 100+ downloads.
Princeton ‘28 | New Jersey
Seeking to break the stigma surrounding mental health among Afghan refugees, Farhan created Zehn, a Muslim mental health service to help alleviate mental health challenges. He built a culturally-relevant cognitive behavioral therapy app with personalized guidance, meditations, and Quranic verses. Since launch, Zehn has impacted over 2000 people, serving as a launchpad for their mental health journeys
Stanford ‘28 | Bangalore
Inspired by her mother’s pottery business, Maanya founded Incuba-Naari, an incubator for small-scale female startup founders. She built a community of over 1000 entrepreneurs, helped host 100 exhibitions, and enabled 50 women-led companies to generate 7000 USD in revenue. She also enabled the digital transformation of the businesses, put them on online retail sites, and automated their processes. She lives, eats, and breathes the empowerment of women entrepreneurs, fueling their economic growth and a more equitable tomorrow.
UPenn ‘28 | Kanpur
Ujjwal was the only student from India accepted to Penn’s Jerome Fisher program in Management & Technology. He launched Project Synergy to collect and repurpose discarded milk from a local temple into sustainable fabric—QMilk—utilizing techniques like centrifugal sedimentation. He led the implementation of QMilk, partnering with local temples and pujaris to foster eco-conscious customs, advocating sustainability and waste reduction in religious practices. His efforts resulted in over 5000 liters of milk being recycled.
UPenn ‘28 | Singapore
Anshi co-founded Project Red to address menstrual health challenges in rural India. Through low-cost, energy-efficient pad vending machines and comprehensive awareness campaigns, Project Red gives women and girls access to sanitary napkins and knowledge about menstrual hygiene.
Oxford ‘28 | Mumbai
Falak’s project, Interactive Moving Micro Museums, blends anthropology and history, offering a novel approach to engaging with culture. Inspired by a quest for credible socio-cultural sources, she aims to contextualize collective history while making material culture more accessible across disciplines. Through exhibitions like “Loss and Life” and “Decolonizing Indian Identities,” which attracted over 150 attendees, she sought to transform conventional historical narratives through open conversations and interactive experiences.
Yale ‘27 | Lucknow
Sukriti led Project Sarpat, empowering indigenous basket-weavers in Uttar Pradesh. Collaborating with 15 artisans, she raised INR 70,000 by selling over 250 items. Additionally, her coffee table book Srijan promoted Uttar Pradesh’s handicrafts for the “1 district 1 product initiative,” earning recognition from the Ministry of AYUSH, Uttar Pradesh.
Cornell ‘28 | Bangalore
Prajwal used computational linguistic principles to develop KannadaDisco, a Kannada language learning app. The app received 4,000 downloads from 80 countries. Aligning with Karnataka’s Kannada requirement in schools, he integrated the app into the curriculum for first-graders, using nursery rhymes as a teaching medium.
Dartmouth '26 | Lucknow
Aamish co-founded Socale, an engaging and inclusive social networking app currently based in San Diego, and backed by the Blackstone LaunchPad startup incubator. Socale matches like-minded individuals based on several filters, including personality, interests, values, and habits.
Stanford ‘28 | Gurgaon
Kavish spearheaded a successful Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court of India, challenging the constitutionality of 5(4) of Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Rules (THOTA), 2014. He formulated the legal strategy, engaged with the government, presented the case’s background, and responded to inquiries from the 3-judge panel.
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