Gitanjali Rao - A Young Innovators Guide to STEM: 5 Steps To Problem Solving For Students, Educators, and Parents

Advance Praise for
A Young Innovators Guide to STEM

Gitanjali Rao is an inspiring innovator and motivational speaker about her experiences as Americas Top Young Scientist. In her book, she provides an infrastructure to help students, teachers, and parents solve real-world problems in a way that can lead to real change. As a former educator, district leader, and STEM thought leader, I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in becoming an innovator to make the world a better place.

Dr. Cindy Moss, VP, Global STEM, Discovery Education

Gitanjali has done a remarkable job breaking down the process of innovationall the way from developing the curiosity and mindset of an innovator, to competing in global competitions. It is a very fun, fast read, with plenty of rich strategies and tips that are clearly drawing on her experience as a young innovator. She doesnt shy away from sharing her hesitations at each stepbrainstorming can feel unproductive, research can feel intimidating, teamwork can be slowbut for every roadblock, she provides strategies for overcoming the mindset and practical tips for moving past the roadblocks. Well done, Gitanjali! I hope each and every kid in the world reads this book and realizes that nothing stops them from innovating and making the world better. What an awesome message!

Tara Chklovski, Founder and CEO, Technovation

Gitanjalis thoughtful insights and step-by-step guidance provide practical lessons for creative thinkers and problem solvers to build crucial real-world skills for personal growth and impactful innovation. A role model herself, Gitanjalis entrepreneurial spirit and commitment to empowering young minds inspires readers of all ages. Students, educators, and parents will learn how to think differently and work more effectively to solve the problems of tomorrow.

Karlie Kloss, Supermodel, Entrepreneur, and Founder of Kode With Klossy

Gitanjalis book is a delightfully personal, practical, and inspiring how-to on STEM innovation and the magic that can transpire when kids are free to embrace failure, think bigger, and dare to make their creative visions a reality. Ever passionate, courageous, and kind, Gitanjali leads by example, sparking a movement for a better and more inclusive tomorrow.

Dr. Pardis Sabeti, Professor, Harvard University, Broad Institute

A POST HILL PRESS BOOK

A Young Innovators Guide to STEM:

5 Steps To Problem Solving For Students, Educators, and Parents

2021 by Gitanjali Rao

All Rights Reserved

ISBN: 978-1-64293-800-5

ISBN (eBook): 978-1-64293-801-2

Cover art by Cody Corcoran

Interior design and composition by Greg Johnson, Textbook Perfect

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author and publisher.

Post Hill Press

New York Nashville

posthillpress.com

Published in the United States of America

To all my mentors and teachers
who believed in me
and allowed me to fail and learn.

Contents

W hen I first started this journey of innovation, building products, and trying to solve problems around me, I was unsure about what I was doing or why I was going about it in a certain way. There was no clarity of thought on analyzing some problem, classifying the solution approaches, and finally building a solution that was viable; I struggled at every step and never knew what the next step was. While there were several resources on the internet on innovation, there was no straightforward process with clear, handy guidance and a set of tools that I could use to produce an idea-problem-solution combination. It was an exploration each time, and there was no specific direction on ways to seek feedback, find mentors, communicate with experts, get introduced to new technology, and many such things.

While conducting innovation sessions, several students asked me questions that prompted me to think about this deeply.

This is what they asked, and these are very real unknowns for any student:

How do we do well in school and try to innovate?

How do you know which challenge helps learn which skill sets?

How do we learn technology in-depth, which we have never been taught in school?

How do we know which solution will work?

What do your friends in school think about you?

There are a lot of ISEF and other STEM challenge winners who have mentioned their journey for inspiration, but how do they do it? We need a prescriptive process and more than just an inspiration.

Most students think about these only in high school to boost their profile. Why did you start early, when nothing that you do will be counted for your college? Is the time worthwhile?

How did your parents help?

How do you approach mentors or professors?

What is the process you follow that we can reuse?

There were several other questions, but you get the idea. Many of them wanted me to not just talk to them about their questions but to write them down and send my answers over. I decided to do one better and document all of these responsesand morein a book. This book, A Young Innovators Guide to STEM , tries to answer all of these questions and also equip a young, inquisitive mind looking to develop innovative solutions, with resources, tools, and tips, to help carve out his or her own journey that is unique to each individual. Coming from somebody roughly their age, my hope is this book will help somebody starting out to visualize their journey, challenge themselves, get out of their comfort zone, and prepare for a future that is unknown to all of us.

H as someone ever told you, Come up with an idea, any idea at all!? While that does sound like a lot of fun, it is easy to get stuck trying to think of an idea. Similar to writers block, people can get innovators block. What problem do I want to solve? How will I come up with a solution? Why is nothing working? It is a complicated process. A lot of people, especially young innovators like us, try to avoid innovation because they are scared of innovators block. What I am trying to say is, coming up with ideas is hard. It might take you weeks, months, or even years to come up with the idea that you are proud of. But the important thing is that it is a processand it is a long one, too. While, yes, it feels like it takes forever, soon you will have an idea that you can make come to life. And with this innovation, you can solve big problems like world hunger, global warming, and cyberbullying. But hey, lets not get too far ahead of ourselves.

Before we start out anything, it is important to understand the reason this book exists and the broad idea of what I am trying to get across. While innovation may seem like another word in the dictionary, it is a combination of some of the things that make up our society. It involves problem-solving, creativity, and the latest developments in technology. Without innovation, I would not be typing up this book. Without innovation, you would not be reading this book.

I want to encourage all of you to think about why you are here and why you want to do this. I want you to imagine the change that you will make in this world. The first step to any innovation process, before we do anything at all, is to go in with a positive mindset. Understand your goals, remember the big picture, and know why you are here. Imagine yourself holding your finished product in your hand, imagine yourself testing it out in remote places, imagine yourself making an impact.