Student wins national award for robot invention
Meghna Behari is only 15, but she already has a pending patent and a national prize for an invention that will make water testing easier.
The North Allegheny freshman won the $10,000 Marconi/Samueli Award for Innovation for her Aquabot, an automated testing device that wirelessly collects and transmits data on water quality.
She also is one of 30 finalists in the Broadcom MASTERS — Math, Applied Science, Technology and Engineering for Rising Stars — a prestigious competition for middle school students.
Meghna, the daughter of Vanitha and Jaideep Behari of Franklin Park, developed the Aquabot last year when she was an eighth-grader at Marshall Middle School for the Covestro Pittsburgh Regional Science & Engineering Fair, presented by the CarnegieScience Center.
Students who place first, second or third in their category qualify for the Broadcom MASTERS, Meghna said.
She said she developed the Aquabot after “hearing about all the contamination that was happening in waterways really close to my home.”
Learning that water was being tested near her home, Meghna contacted a water quality inspector and watched him do his job. “He had this jar on the end of a large pole and he had to bring it back to the lab. And he had to do this ona weekly basis,” she said. “I thought that there had to be a betterway.”
At the time, Meghna was taking a robotics class, and she created a robot to help test waterquality.
“Essentially, it can detect contamination in surface water,” she said. “It can be used by anyone … and is sturdy enough to withstand field conditions if you are testing it in your local waterways.”
Meghna was one of 30 finalists who competed in October in Washington, D.C.
“I am so excited about Meghna’s success in the Broadcom MASTERS competition,” said Lisa Kosick, regional science fair director and education coordinator for the Carnegie Science Center. “She is a wonderful example of the caliber of student who participates in the Covestro Pittsburgh Regional Science &Engineering Fair. Her effort to improve water testing impressed people locally, and it is great to see her work recognized nationally, too.”
Meghna said she wasn’t expecting to win. She plans to use part of her prize money to continue to develop the Aquabot.
“I definitely want to continue working on this project,” she said. “My goal is to keep it on the relatively inexpensive side. I hope it can be used in Third World countries eventually.”