-Paromita Sengupta (Bengaluru)
Mumbai-based coding enthusiast Yuvvan Talreja (16) was declared Top 10 National Winner for innovating an air pollution detection device, by an eminent jury at the grand finale of the inaugural edition of Vivo Ignite Science and Innovation competition staged in Delhi, on February 8. As a Top 10 National Winner — ranked #4 in the prototype category — young Yuvvan was awarded prize money (Rs.2 lakh) and a trophy.
Born and raised in the maximum city listed among the Top 10 most polluted cities worldwide, Yuvvan chose to develop a microenvironment pollution detection device which measures air pollution to help health management officials. “While researching optical sensors, generally used to detect pollution levels in larger areas, I discovered their data for microenvironments tended to be inaccurate. This revelation inspired me to develop a device to accurately detect pollution levels in differing neighbourhoods with the help of microscopic images of plant leaves — nature’s best bioindicators,” says Yuvvan.
The Vivo Ignite competition — open to classes VIII-XII students — attracted 3,000 entries from across the country this year. Conducted over three rounds, the competition required participants to develop projects based on creative thinking, innovation and positive social impact.
The only child of Rajkumar Talreja, executive director of Avendus Capital Ltd, and Siya Talreja, a nutrition counselor, Yuvvan is a class XI student of Mumbai’s top-ranked Cathedral and John Connon School.
“From the beginning, my parents have encouraged me, sponsored all my initiatives including the parts to build my prototype and helped me improve my data collection methodology and presentation. I am equally grateful to my class IV computer science and robotics teachers who introduced and encouraged my deep interest in coding and subsequently in Artificial Intelligence. Moreover unlike other Indian boards, the IB (Geneva) curriculum that I follow makes me think critically,” he says.
Looking ahead, Yuvvan is set on studying computer science after completing class XII. “I plan to expand my knowledge of machine and deep learning so I can develop more applications for the benefit of humanity,” he enthuses.
Way to go, bro!
