Chandigarh girl’s search for success at Google

Showing rare talent, Chandigarh’s 15-year-old Shristhi Asthana, has come up with a potential green method for treating wastewater containing detergent and will showcase her project at the Google Science Fair in the US. Vanita Srivastava reports.

Showing rare talent, Chandigarh’s 15-year-old Shristhi Asthana, has come up with a potential green method for treating wastewater containing detergent and will showcase her project at the Google Science Fair in the US.

HT Image

Asthana is one of the top 15 finalists, chosen from around 1,000 contestants across 120 countries, to make it to the prestigious event.

Her project titled — solar light assisted nanoZnO photo catalytic mineralisation, the green technique for the degradation of detergents claims to have a short treatment time, is less costly and has less exposure for workers.

The idea struck her on a field trip to Ludhiana when she got disturbed by the dire state of industry disposal waste. “When I asked the textile owners why they were not looking for a way to treat the dye water, they counter questioned me on whether there was such a way,” Asthana told HT.

Asthana, who wants to pursue a career in pure sciences, will be flown to Google’s headquarters in the US on September 23 to present her project to an international panel of scientists for the final round of judging.

The Grand Prize winner will win a 10-day trip to the Galapagos Islands with the National Geographic Expeditions, $50000 in scholarship funding and more.