Ink-stained canvas. Gentle strokes of color. A smudge of water. The thin paintbrush permits the precise crafting of mountainous terrain. The warm hues fuse together to form the autumn shades of the maple trees, and the water structures a path for the pigments to chase. “Paint with grace. Let your fingers do the work,” Mrs. Banks, my 4th grade art teacher, suggested as I watched the colors settle into the fibers of my canvas. In elementary school, I had begged...

spoke with panache: “What if we compete in the Verizon App Challenge? The winning organization gets sponsored!”. As Outreach Captain of my Robotics team, I saw this competition as an opportunity to raise funds for purchasing robot-parts and machinery. The rules of the contest were simple: in a team of six, design an application to address a social issue. After reading an article claiming that $115,000,000 was raised for ALS research through the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, I asked my team......

As a child, Star Wars films stole my imagination. These movies dared me to dream, but today, my visions aren’t restricted to my dreams. As a filmmaker, I bring them to life. Filmmaking has molded me into a visual storyteller. Through writing screenplays, directing shots, and editing scenes, I’ve learned how to effectively convey my visions to changing audiences. When I film documentaries for my robotics team or direct commercials for my school’s Technology Student Association, I�...

My mind escaped into hyperspace, contemplating the possibilities...could food allergens be detected using image processing? Could I transform my body into a musical instrument using gesture recognition? Competing at Hackathons over the past four years has enabled me to develop softwares to answer these exact questions. As I facilitated coding sessions with my teammates, not only did I develop an avant-garde mindset by creating workarounds for technical limitations, but I also learned how to articulate my visions while demoing...

Lera Beroditsky’s recent TED Talk on foreign languages reminded me of a phenomenon I’ve pondered many times before: do humans decipher language the same way computers do? To explore this topic, I’ve been studying Spanish in the classroom for the past 10 years, supplementing it with online Duolingo and edX classes. As part of my school’s Spanish Honor Society, I helped set up a World-Language Night, an evening filled with performances and food from foreign countries. After...

I lay beside my grandmother in a wooden swing suspended by two ropes emerging from the cottage ceiling. My focus shifted to her hands as she lifted her phone and whispered the words “Happy Birthday” in Telugu. Her voice swiftly transcribed to English characters on-screen, and she sent the message to my brother. Witnessing voice-translation technology break this language barrier during my trip to India motivated me to zealously pursue software innovation that improves quality of life. Four years later,...

I break the silence permeating the room, speaking with panache: “What if we competed in the Verizon App Challenge? The winning organization gets funded!” After further discussion, my teammates get on board. The plan was set in motion. On my robotics team, funding is necessary for purchasing essential tools and machinery. After exhausting all options of additional company sponsorships, I saw this competition as a potential fundraising opportunity. The rules of the contest were simple: in a team of six,...

Picture this — a farmer in a remote village in Bangladesh asks his virtual assistant if it’s forecasted to rain over his orchard. An uneducated laborer in Ghana asks Alexa where he can purchase affordable medicine for his ailing mother. Modern advancements in cognitive technologies such as natural language processing are transforming computing by enabling a natural means of interaction. The development of voice-enabled products is thought to make technology easily accessible to a large segment of the global population:...

I lie beside my grandmother in a wooden swing suspended by two ropes emerging from the cottage ceiling. My focus shifted to her hands as she lifted her phone, whispering the words “Happy Birthday” in Hindi. Her voice swiftly transcribed to English characters on-screen, and she sent the message to my brother. Witnessing voice-translation technology break the language barrier between my grandma and brother kindled my ambition to develop an interconnected world using artificial intelligence. Four years later, I continue...

My eyes fixate on my grandmother’s hands as she lifts her phone, whispering the words “Happy Birthday” in Hindi. Her voice is swiftly transcribed to English characters on-screen, and the message is sent to my brother. Witnessing voice-translation technology enable this interlanguage communication years ago kindled my ambition to develop an interconnected world through natural language processing (NLP). At Georgia Tech, I will chase this dream by pursuing a B.S. in computer science through the College of Computing. ...

This past June, I received an all-expense paid scholarship to attend Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference. After Apple Executive Ester Hares’s presentation on diversity and accessibility in the Steve Jobs Theater, I unlock my phone to discover Apple had featured my app Glimpse, a tool for the visually impaired to recognize everyday objects, on the homepage of the iOS App Store. While this homepage feature alone amassed 6,800 downloads and $129 profit within 24 hours, my entrepreneurial endeavors began a whole four...

“I had enough!”, he screams, crumpling the worksheet into his fist. I’ve tried everything — pictures, analogies, videos — but Edison still doesn’t grasp the concept of fraction addition. I unravel the sheet and tear it into three pieces, handing two of them to Edison. “How many of the total sheets do I have?”, I ask him. “One out of the three.” “Good. Now, hand me one of your pieces. How many do I have now?”, I continue. “Two out...

My mouth readily embraces the warmth. A lingering trace of espresso trails down the porcelain, as a final splurge of caffeine rejuvenates my eyes from their sunken state. The clock next to me reads 4:17 AM. Yet, any hint of exhaustion is immediately lost in the sense of energy that permeates the halls, for we programmers know that despite all the internal groaning, hair-pulling and sleep deprivation that comes with our work, there is no greater feeling than witnessing an idea...

My focus shifts to my grandma’s hands as she lifts her phone and whispers the words “Happy Birthday” in Hindi. Her voice swiftly transcribes to English characters on-screen, and she sends the message to my brother. Witnessing voice-translation technology break this language barrier during my trip to India motivated me to zealously pursue software innovation that improves quality of life. Four years later, I continue to chase this dream. This past June, I received a full scholarship to attend...

I lie beside my grandmother in a wooden swing suspended by two ropes emerging from the cottage ceiling. My focus shifts to her hands as she lifts her phone, whispering the words “Happy Birthday” in Hindi. Her voice is swiftly transcribed to English characters on-screen, and she sends the message to my brother. It was during this trip to India that my love for computer science implanted. Witnessing voice-translation technology break the language barrier between my grandma and brother kindled...

If I could travel anywhere, I would go to... Alaska. With hot cocoa in one hand and my camera the other, I can capture the most epic, most legendary picture of the aurora borealis. The most interesting fact I ever learned from research was... that male penguins will gift a pebble to female penguins that they like. My porch is filled with pebbles. I might as well give it a try. In addition to my major, my academic interests include......

While my transcript and test scores accurately represent my performance in academic subjects within the classroom, they don’t convey my innate thirst for exploration as a programmer outside of school. Over the past four years, Hackathons (programming marathons that span up to 48 hours) have constantly challenged my ability to think creatively as a coder. How could image recognition be used to detect food allergens? How could gesture recognition be applied to transform my body into a musical instrument? As...

I lay beside my grandmother in a wooden swing suspended by two ropes emerging from the cottage ceiling. My focus shifted to her hands as she lifted her phone and whispered the words “Happy Birthday” in Hindi. Her voice swiftly transcribed to English characters on-screen, and she sent the message to my brother. Witnessing voice-translation technology break the language barrier between my grandma and brother kindled my ambition to develop an interconnected world through software engineering. Four years later, I...

Turmeric. Coriander. Ginger. Kumin. The aroma of spices embraced its presence in the air, sifting past the kitchen door, up the stairs and into my room. Immediately, I rushed downstairs, taking my place at the dinner-table next to my mom, dad and brother. A vast array of south-indian cuisines sat before us: yellow rice, chicken tikka masala, lentil curry, and white chutney. But dinner with my family is about more than quenching our appetites. It is a moment of reflection...

I broke the silence permeating the room, speaking with panache: “What if we competed in the Verizon App Challenge? The winning organization gets sponsored!”. As Outreach Captain of my Robotics team, I recognized funding was needed to purchase proper lab-equipment and machinery. After exhausting all options of attaining additional company sponsors, I saw this competition as a potential fundraising opportunity. The rules of the contest were simple: in a team of six, design an application to address a social issue....

As part of FRC Robotics Team 1923 for the past four years, I became involved in both the programming and business fields. As a programmer, I code autonomous modes for subsystems that allow the robot to complete tasks on the game field without any user control. Doing so has helped my team win two district competitions and progress to the World Championship Division Semifinals in 2017. However, after my freshman year, I realized that Robotics involved more than just technical aspects. In 1...

Edison, a 5th grader I’ve tutored through A2Z Mentoring for the past 3 years, comes from a low-income household void of computers and a school without technology courses. When I realized that other kids, like Edison, lack the resources to explore STEM fields, I co-created Project Code (www.projectcode.live), an initiative to teach free coding-classes to disadvantaged students.. The following summer, I, along with a friend, designed a 12-week Scratch programming curriculum filled with engaging activities and hands-on...

When I was a freshman, a girl on my robotics team was told by the Captain that her code wouldn’t be tested because “it wouldn’t work anyway. it was written by a girl”. Intimidated by the upperclassmen, I thought it best to not aggravate the situation and to stay silent, putting his comment off as a joke. After all, since I was only a freshman, I thought my voice was meaningless anyway. Four years later, I’ve learned...

With 110 students on my robotics team and only 2 robots to build, my teammates always complained about not receiving enough hands-on time. As a solution, I co-founded a chapter of the Technology Student Association (TSA), a club where my classmates could design independent engineering projects with complete control over their creations. After marketing the club through promotional videos, flyers, and posters and holding a booth at my school’s club fair, 83 students promptly joined. As President, I lead them in weekly...

After watching the 2013 livestream of Apple unveiling Xcode 5, their latest development environment, it became my goal to build my own app. Soon enough, I began scouring through my dad’s programming books. Months later, I had created a working mobile helicopter game. Yet, my app-development pursuits didn’t stop there. Since then, I’ve turned to hackathons and a summer internship at Ello, where collaboration with teammates and guidance from mentors helped me publish 6 apps that have been used by...