
Aug 25, 2026
✦India Today
At 10, she built a lead detector for water. At MIT, she became first Hawking medalist
Gitanjali Rao built a lead detector for water at age 10 after learning about the Flint crisis. She later became the first recipient of the Stephen Hawking Junior Medal for Science Communication at 19. Rao said, "It is about turning curiosity into action and using science to tackle problems."