Maanasa Mendu is a current student at Harvard College, studying bioengineering and global health and health policy. After seeing the effects of energy poverty in rural India, Maanasa developed HARVEST, a bio-inspired sustainable power solution. For her work on HARVEST, Maanasa has been named “America’s Top Young Scientist 2016” and recognized by the House of Representatives, Ohio EPA, and Forbes 30 Under 30. Furthermore, Maanasa developed LeafAI, a practical, fast machine learning tool that identifies common plant diseases, in collaboration with plant pathologists and farmers and has received honors from the  Google Science Fair and Junior Science & Humanities Symposium. Alongside research, Maanasa is passionate about sharing her experiences as a young person in STEM in hopes of inspiring others. In her free time, Maanasa enjoys traveling, hiking, and finding new ice cream places to try!