Shanya Gill
Personal Information
Born: 2011
Country of Birth: India
Nationality: India-American
Ethnicity: Asian
Education
current a student
"“Since then, my mother became increasingly cautious, always asking me to double-check that the kitchen stove was turned off before leaving our house,” (local12.com); “By combining my love for biology, desire to make a difference and passion for innovation, biomedical engineering is the perfect fit for me,” (local12.com); “Innovation can have a lot of impact—not only on the people you’re helping, but also on yourself,” (time.com); “When something wrong is happening to you, or someone else, have the confidence and courage to be able to speak up.” (corporate.thermofisher.com); "I coded the Raspberry Pi with Python, and the thermal camera gives images to the Raspberry Pi to analyze," (greenmatters.com); "
— Shanya Gill
Professional Life
Field of Study: Inventor
Institution/Corporation: Thermo Fisher; Vigil Inc; Early Fire Alert Inc
Degrees & Memberships: None
Awards & Achievements
Awards: 2023 ASCENSD Award, Thermo fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge; 2024 named to Kid of the Year List, Time
Achievements: created a tool that uses thermal imaging to identify when a heat source (ie a gas burner) is left unattended for 10 minutes and alerts the resident but text message; founder & CEO Vigil Inc;
was 12-years-0ld when she invented her device
has said her goal in creating her device was to design an early warning system that is superior to a standard smoke detector & while smoke detectors sense active fires as smoke begins to rise her system is designed to stop unwanted fires from starting
was inspired to improve fire safety after a restaurant behind her home burned down in the summer of 2022
interests include sports, crafting, coding, and teaching younger kids
hopes to become a biomedical engineer
her system involves connecting an affordable thermal camera to a compact computer (Raspberry Pi retail costs start at about $35) which is then programmed to differentiate between people–which were identified as warm objects moving horizontally–and heat sources, such as an active gas burner, which were identified as hot objects that remained stationary; she then programmed the system to send a text message when it detected a heat source but no human presence for a continuous 10-minute period
testing showed her system accurately detected human presence 98% of the time and heat sources 97% of the time
has put her code up on GitHub, which is open source, so people can make suggestions on how to improve the program, which still has some bugs
has decided not to patent her invention so it is available to all
is working with the U.S. Fire Administration to perfect her device
used to struggle with insecurities tied to her body image, and was called names because of her size but has developed a healthier self-image, and working on the project has helped her build confidence
once her device comes to market she plans to donate a portion of the profits to charities and organizations that help victims of fires
wants to refine her device by combining it with a smartphone app that will allow users to quickly switch over to a camera after receiving a text message so they can see if the alert is correct, as well as a higher resolution sensor, incorporating smarter algorithms, and designing the product for mass production