Madhav Ghatpande is not your typical high school student. When he’s not dominating the basketball and tennis courts, he’s coding in 4 languages, editing videos, and studying hydrogen fuel cells. Madhav just entered TYE’s high school competition, where he and a group of friends successfully formed a water purifying company called ShockED. ShockED adapts a method of purification which uses a simple electric field to separate sodium and chlorine ions from water and create pure drinkable water.
This kid is going places! Check out what else he’s been up to and be sure to remember his name (you know, for when he’s famous one day).
What projects are you currently working on?
I am currently working on researching about how the role of microglia plays into the development of Alzheimer’s disease. A recent Stanford study showed that an increase in a receptor pro-tein called EP2 led to the degeneration of the microglia cells, which clean up the fats that lead to Alzheimer’s disease. I am hoping to find an enzyme that will be able to bond to EP2 and nullify its effects, slowing and even preventing Alzheimer’s disease. All of this research will hopefully be complied and condensed into a science fair project I am planning to enter this year.
What startup/tech projects have you worked on in the past?
Recently, a group of friends and I came together and entered a competition called TYE (Talented Young Entrepreneurs) to start a business. We formed a water purifying company called ShockED, in which I was CEO, and created a product that was able to use a simple electric field and carbon nanotubes to purify water both more efficiently and cheaply than current water purification plants. Outside of ShockED, I created a website using HTML, PHP, and javascript for tennis players to use as a hub for all the latest tennis information, from rankings to workouts to improve your game. I also worked on a science fair project where I compared hydrogen fuel cell generators to coal-powered generators in order to determine of hydrogen fuel cell generators are capable of replacing current generators in terms of output and costs. Finally, I created a highlight video for the Pathfinders Winter Course hosted by the United States Army Cadet Corps in order to provide the corps with a video to show the intensity of the course to future cadets and as a project to enter into Tech Fair.
What tech/tools are essential to you?
Throughout my endeavors at Tech Fair, I used three main programs in order to help me in my projects: iMovie, Final Cut Pro X, and Eclipse. For my video project, I used a combination of Final Cut Pro and iMovie in order to both finely edit my videos and to add many special effects. Using these skills, I have become proficient in using the two hand-in-hand to produce many high quality videos for both my French and Literature class. In order to create my websites, I used Eclipse to edit my Java and HTML code so the lengthy process of debugging the code for the website could be reduced.
What are your best technical or creative skills?
My best technical skill is by far video editing. I have edited many videos for not only tech fair projects but also for our team’s basketball banquet and other students. Another technical skill that I have is the fact that I am able to code fluently in many languages: HTML, PHP, java, and javascript. While I have only begun to use java to write some rudimentary applications, I have used to other languages to create many creative and user-friendly websites such as my tennis and bike safety website.
What’s next on your list to learn?
Next on my list to learn is Objective C and C++ programing. These programming languages have became extremely important in our lives as they are the basis of most apps in our phones. In addition to this, I would like to learn more about different types of sensors, such as infrared and thermal, and artificial intelligence. Combining these skills, I would like to eventually create a system for automobiles that would allow for not only safer driving but also smarter cars. Car safety is a huge issue but I think this system could be applied to all means of transport, allowing for a much safer environment here on Earth.
