The Future of Storm Detection with Anirudh Rao | Teen Scientist

(upbeat music) - Hello and welcome to Teen Scientist. I'm your host, Abia Wood, and doing our audio engineering is James Zipra. Here on Teen Scientist, I bring you stories of groundbreaking innovations in the STEAM disciplines entirely from a youth perspective. We feature young researchers and respected experts in their fields at the local, national, and international levels. Oni Rudrao, now 13, was recently named a runner up of the 2025 Gloria Baron Prize for Young Heroes, a Colorado middle schooler. He's passionate about solving climate-driven problems with technology. He created a WebRR, an early tornado warning system using drones and infrared sounds sensors, which could extend warning times from about 13 minutes to 40 minutes. He also invented a novel ice melting road surface, a wound management device, and a moisture power nanobattery. Today we'll talk with Anna Rudd about his interventions, what inspires him, and how he connects science, nature, and community. Anna Rudd, thank you so much for joining us today. To start off, tell us a little bit about yourself, where do you live and what grade you're in, and kind of that basic stuff. - My name is Ania Rudrao. I'm an eighth grader at Stem School High and Strange, and I live in Lone Tree, Colorado, which is like a suburb from like Denver, yeah. - Yeah, thank you so much for joining us. Before we kind of get into what you have accomplished, which you already done so much, what first got you interested in science and your invention at such a young age? - I actually used to live in Athens, and one of my childhood friends in my house by disdying you to a tornado. So that was kind of a changing point for me to see how these tornadoes are affecting everyone and how climate change is indeed worsening this. So that's how I got interested in problems that are worsening due to climate change. - I mean, you started about five or six years old, which is super young. What was going through your mind as a kindergartner with this sketching kind of coming up with ideas already and then kind of transforming them into now your 13 years old? - Yeah, so when I was in kindergarten, my teacher kind of made a project where we have to kind of solve a problem and then put it on paper. I was really interested based on what I've already learned. So I was like, maybe I'll do something that's based on tornadoes. That's when I kind of got the idea of using drones for that situation and the USPTO Axiqim and gave me feedback, which that really inspired me in a way, I didn't really come back to this project for a few years. But afterwards, I started getting into this and working more on my early tornado warning system. I started adding more components, kind of made an autonomous system of drones as well and use different sensors like infrasound, temperature, pressure and altitude. That's where I am today. - Going through the process of kind of always being interested in things that I know you said it took you a couple years to get back to that. Who or what helped you keep working on that idea or come back to the idea as you got older? - Yeah, so we shifted the news. I saw so many tornadoes happening even hurricanes and it really triggered me that climate change is something that is happening in our world real time. So making sure that coming back to whatever idea I previously had, I really wanted to make a difference in society, definitely. - Yeah, to kind of hone in and really make an impact on something that is even so personal to you and what you've experienced in life, which it sounds like you've always been very curious. You attended STEM school Highlands Ranch. How was that environment for you and kind of stemmed your growth in the science world? - Well, the name stem, yeah. It's called stem school Highlands Ranch. So it's a very personalized school compared to whatever like public schools we have in the area. So stem school really fostered my inspiration and my curiosity, definitely in technology, science and engineering, especially and working on this project. They really fostered my curiosity, I would say, and the environment was amazing there. - Oh, I bet. And especially because you can have something so focused on what you want to go into and what you want to learn and really hone in. And like you said, foster your ideas and inventions. So now that we learned a little bit about your backstory, let's get into your major project, The Reverar. It's an early tornado detection system using drones. Can you explain in simple terms how it works? - Yes, so my idea was kind of to make a network of autonomous drones, meaning drones that work by themselves as well as different sensors, such as infosound, temperature, pressure, and altitude. So how this works in simple terms is there's like a base station and this network of autonomous drones flying all directions. And these drones that kind of have the package on them with like a microcontroller and these sensors go and get data from around the area and this data is sent back to the base station, which is then compared with historical data that we see and together when it's at an LC, if there is something we need to worry about and alarms, phone notifications, and all will be sounded. - So through this data, is that how these drones find tornadoes before they hit? - Yes, so the current time we have for a tornado to hit and like evacuation time is around 13 minutes, but with this device, it can go to 40 minutes. So this is like a huge difference in time. So using this data and whatever data is taken by the drone and when it's compared to historical data, we can probably reach like 40 minutes in time with this device. - Yeah, it creates such time difference compared to the usual and that's kind of falling up with my next question. Is that why you use drones? I know the traditional tornado warnings come from a radar. Is that the advantage to using drones or is there some type of other advantage along with that? - Yeah, so the advantage is definitely time. So the radar that we have currently only gives you 13 minutes and even though it's very high position, what can you really do with 13 minutes? So drones make this whole process faster and these are continuously monitoring as well, meaning that this can monitor like from all directions and tornado like the infosan can be detected from 60 miles away. So these drones can detect this infosan from many miles away and actually infosan can be detected hundreds of miles away and if 60 is the safe point, imagine how many tornadoes we can detect with these drone systems. - Right, how did you learn about infrared sounds and come up with the idea of using those? - Yes, infosan. So I looked at many research papers and I saw that tornadoes in their early stages produce this infosan, which is like from 0.1 to like 10 hertz around so this infosan is really important because tornadoes produce them in a very low frequency and in their very early stages. So kind of tying that into my device was very important for me. - Yeah, it seems like you've thought really well out about your whole device and what utilizes the most efficient ways. You named your project Revere after Paul Revere, what's the story behind that name? - Yes, just like how Paul Revere won people of the British mine won't people of tornadoes, right? So putting them both together, I think was a really good name for my project definitely. - Yes, and I know you mentioned earlier about the time difference, but going kind of more in depth currently you said it's about 13 minutes of warning before tornado hits and your goal was to increase that time and you did so by about 40 minutes more kind of in depth to that in real life, how big of a difference is an extra 20 or 30 minutes for people in a storm and how so? - Yes, definitely. So this extra 20 to 30 minutes can help people get their valuables, can help people get their pets, their family members out safely as well. With 13 minutes, you don't have much time, you would say. It seems like a lot of time. But when you're frantically trying to evacuate, that's not a lot of time where in 14 minutes, you can do everything in a very nice pace as well and make sure you get all of your belongings, all of your important stuff's important documents as well as your family members out. So those 20 to 30 minutes make a huge difference. - Right, it's really a matter of almost life and death. I feel like you can't really get anywhere in 13 minutes compared to 40. So it really is savings. so much time and life. Speaking of, have you built a prototype or simulation of the verviere yet? - Yes, I've already created my prototype as well as a simulator app as well. So I've actually had like an old prototype and I have a prototype which is more sleek and compact as well with a higher efficiency drone. - Were there some challenges in making your prototype and also simulation app? - Yes, definitely coding was a huge challenge. Sometimes it didn't work. So going back to the previous step really helped me as well. Yeah, definitely there were so many challenges in this full process, I would say. - What kind of coding did you utilize for your app? - I used Arduino IDE code and the language is used as like C++, so I watched a lot of YouTube tutorials and something I tell everyone is make sure you just learn enough for you to do this project because if not, it becomes busy work, you know? - Yeah, I was gonna say how was learning and kind of developing with that new code language? - Yeah, it was a little bit hard and many YouTube tutorials helped me definitely. - So yeah, it took a lot of time to understand the coding and be able to make this work definitely, even remembering that it was a lot really, but it was challenging, but at the end, it was all worth it, I will say. - Oh, 100% worth it. So kind of now focusing in the future, what's next for the revier? Do you plan to work with scientist or meteorologist to bring it closer to a reality? - Yes, definitely that is also part of my future plans, but right now I'm trying to add AI and machine learning into like my revier. So it makes the drone kind of like autonomous and work on their own, because right now I'm using a controller. - So what does the controller do? - The controller just controls a drone, like-- - Oh, got it. - And if I use AI and machine learning, this means like the drone can go up by itself and-- - It doesn't need more times. - Yes, exactly. - We often hear that tornado patterns are changing because of climate change moving into new areas. Your Baron Price profile says you tackled problems worsening due to climate change. What have you learned about climate change effects, tornadoes and storms? - Yes, so climate change has a huge effect on our society today, and places that have no tornadoes, especially our getting tornadoes. And the tornado Ali is moving east where cities are more densely populated. So this is a huge issue. It can definitely impact storms and everything. And we are seeing it today, and if we're seeing it today, imagine how bad it'll be in the future. - What do you think in now and in the future should be put in the place to kind of change? The climate change. - Small things like using less water, short showers, turn off the water while you're brushing your teeth. These small things can help so much indeed recycling. - Yeah, really one small change that a person can do can make a difference. As little-- I know people say, well, my difference doesn't really make an impact with billions of people in this world, but truly it does. Like you said, using less water and trying to be more mindful of what you do really can make a difference and impact. I'm your host, Abigail Wood, and this is Teen Scientists. We are going to take a short break. - Tune up your week with a great variety of jazz music on WDIY Monday through Friday nights from nine to 11 offers, many choices from the world of jazz featuring traditional to modern styles, plus swing Sunday at 5 p.m. and improvisational jazz on the bridge Sunday nights at 10 p.m. This and for new releases, interviews with artists and information on upcoming performances right here on WDIY. - I'm your host, Abigail Wood, back here on Teen Scientists. So besides Revere, you've engineered other cool inventions. You designed a special road service that helps melt ice more efficiently. Can you explain how does that work? - Yes, so I use patterns based on bio-memory cream. So different patterns that we see in the environment, including the meat beetles, like the bumps that they have in their back, like the milk patterns. These patterns are hydrophobic and can repel water away and isolate. So if these patterns are microscopically put in to just concrete or asphalt on the road, this can prevent ice from forming, especially. And as I live in Colorado, ice on the roads is a huge issue, especially, yes. - Yeah, I was gonna ask, why did you choose that idea with certain inspiration? Is that because you live in Colorado, it's kind of not every day, every season, something that happens? - Yes, so not every season, but it definitely happens. Like icy roads in the winter months is horrible, especially in January and February. This means you can't even get to school. And there's very few school closures in Colorado because we have snow so often. And our state government is definitely trying to like pave the ice through and all of that. But it is a huge issue ice on the roads, definitely. - Yeah, especially because it can cause car accidents. And sorry, I didn't mean every season. I meant through the seasons like winter, obviously not summer. Going into another project was a wound management solution to prevent infections in disaster zones or worn torn regions. Can you describe what this invention does? - Yes, so this uses something called a hydrovoltaic effect. So when water interacts with a kind of like especially shooting nanomaterial, the hydroxyl and carboxy group separate, causing the movement of ions and generating a small voltage. So this voltage basically tells you if there is enough moisture on the wound and it'll kind of create like, there's like a die, like an electrochemical die. That'll tell you if there's enough moisture on the wound or if there's too much moisture on the wound because especially in like water and regions around the world, kind of my inspiration as well. I'm looking at the news many water and areas around the world to have, don't have access to reliable healthcare as well as doctors and doctors can keep checking the wounds to see if there's too much moisture in them. So this electrochemical die with this project can tell you when to change. And almost 60% actually a cathartic study says that almost 60% of perfectly good bandages are wasted every year. - Oh wow. - Yes. - That's actually crazy. That's over half of bandages that are used. - So with such complex things like wound care which seems pretty advanced, how do you get kids your age to think about problems like this or be interested? - Make sure that there's so many kids who have so many ideas. - Yeah. - But sadly people are not there to foster their curiosity. So one thing I'll tell adults is if students are really interested in something and really want to do something and kind of create a change in society definitely foster that curiosity. And if you're a student who really wants to do something to change the society, it takes one person. So just go for it. Even if it's the craziest idea, just go for it. - Yeah, that's honestly great advice. From what I've read, your app provides not app but your battery provides clean, affordable electricity for sensors in place without reliable power. How do you get energy from moisture? - Yeah, so almost like the wound management system when water interacts with this graphene oxide nanomaterial and produces voltage and this voltage can power any low powered sensors. And if current is added into that as well, it can power daily use things like phones, Apple watches, computers, et cetera. - What kinds of sensors or devices could you use for your moisture battery? Are you thinking of applications like environmental monitors or health devices or something else? - All of them, environmental monitors, health devices. I actually tested my, let's say an alternative for electrochemical batteries using a hot rate sensor, a soil temperature sensor and an air quality sensor as well. So it can be used for a variety of different things. Would you like to kind of besides those advance it in the future? And if so, what would you look at to do that? - Yeah, so I definitely want to advance it in the future. So right now I'm adding myself in series which produces voltage. But if it's added in a different way, which is like parallel, this can produce current and this current can be used to basically power anything really. And yeah, also I'm thinking of adding a hygoscopic layer on top of the cells, which kind of increases the effects of the cells and it can be kept for a much longer time compared definitely. Would that affect anything negatively if you were so to do that or would it only have positive after effects? From what I've seen is positive after effects, but I can only see when I try and right now I haven't tried it yet, it's like my future plans, but definitely I'll be looking at that. It's all trial and error, I feel like that's what science is and truly just experimenting and trying to find what's most efficient what you've been doing and it seems like many of your projects focus on disaster, climate impacts and helping people from tornadoes to icy roads to health. Is there a climate threat or philosophy behind all your inventions? I know you kind of mentioned earlier that you've been interested in just helping the world in general, but is there a specific reason why it's such environmental focused? Yes, definitely. So I believe climate change is not a scientific issue, but a problem shaped by how we have historically interacted with the environment. Yeah. And climate change is something that's happening currently and going to happen in the future. And a quote by President Obama is, climate change, we're the first generation to experience climate change and we're the last to do something about it. I think that is a great quote that showcases what we really need to do as a society to change and focus on climate change. So speaking of making a change and trying to reach people with that, you've done a lot of outreach over the past three years, you presented to more than 5,000 elementary students. How do younger kids react when you visit their classroom or clubs? From what I've seen, they are truly interested and they truly want to do something for the environment. How they're personally feeling, I wouldn't know, but from what they've shared with me and their reactions, they seem very interested in joining the cause of climate change and climate change is something ongoing as well. So making sure that everyone from all generations are together working on climate change is something very important. Yeah, I think it's especially important to start educating so young. It is an ongoing everyday factor that everybody who lives with and if we can start with the education, which I think is really the main solution here, it will bring wonders to the next generation coming up. So as somebody who sees science as connected to who we are, what advice do you have for other maybe teens or students who want to tackle big issues like climate change or community problems like you have? Yes, definitely go for it. That is one one advice. Just go for it. Do not think about anyone else or anything else. Despite how crazy your project is, if you want to make a positive impact on society, definitely go for it. Yeah, I think that's been your main thing is really, it doesn't matter your age or your limitations, it's really your mind and yourself and if you want it, you can do it and it's really about just pursuing it. So it's okay to question curiosity, rather than solutions, like you said, being honored by the Gloria Baron prize is a big deal. How do you feel when you found out you were runner up, which is incredible? What does that mean to you to be recognized as a young hero? It meant a lot to me and I felt pretty proud of myself to know I was a Gloria Baron prize runner up definitely and it really brought highlight to my work and what I'm doing for society definitely. So thank you so much to Gloria Baron prize as well. The Baron Prize Founder T.A. Baron says we need heroes not celebrities but people whose characters can inspire others. How do you see your role as a role model for other kids? Definitely. So I see my role is to make sure the next generation knows about what we are doing this generation and to put an impact on the world and try to reduce climate change and work on problems that are worsening due to climate change to make the next generation lives better, definitely. What qualities do you think a young hero should have? Do you see those in yourself or other peers? Definitely. I believe someone should have the qualities of inspiration, curiosity, actually caring about other people and be kind. Those four qualities are something that are very direct to me and my dad always says that you must be on your best behavior, you must work hard and you must have good manners to actually have a change in society definitely. Those are all incredible qualities. I think every single guest that I have had has said curiosity. Could you expand more on why curiosity is so important especially in a STEM field? Yes definitely. Do you think we would have had like the light bulb? Do you think we would have had the phone? We would be stuck in the caveman ages if we did not have curiosity. Right, yeah. Yeah, so we definitely need curiosity to do something in real time. Without curiosity, as smart as the homo sapien species are without curiosity, we are nothing. Yeah, I think that's a great way to put it. Without curiosity, we aren't nothing. You are only 13 and you have already accomplished so much. What are your goals in the future or things that you are looking forward to do besides your projects? My goals in the future is to do something where I can have a change in society. I'm really interested in biochemistry and AI especially. So mixing like the intersection of science and history is pretty important to me as well. So I don't know what I'll be in the future. It can be like a surgeon to a diplomat to like find me its person but I really don't know what I'll do in the future but I just want to have the curiosity to help others definitely. Do you have any short term girls? Maybe not something that you'll be in the future but something you might want to accomplish before you get to high school or during high school? Yeah, so definitely. So I have like a few goals that like I want to do. I'm working on an app for dyslexic students and other learning disorders which uses AI. I'm also thinking of making an AI app which can decipher ancient languages that we haven't found out now. Those are all so cool and kind of segueing back to when you coded when you created your first app simulation. Is it now easier to create other apps? Do you have kind of a blueprint or do you go from scratch from all of those? Definitely. The coding thing really made me interested in doing more apps especially before I wasn't really interested in coding. I really did not want to do any apps but this one really striked to change in me as always. I would say yeah definitely. I don't really have a blueprint. I do stuff from scratch most of the times because not many people are interested in the same projects that I am doing especially. I would probably call them unique but I don't really have a blueprint as mostly from scratch. I think they are unique but in the best way possible because we don't have things out there that are like this and having the uniqueness to have an app that helps with special abilities and really focusing on changing your world is quite incredible. So thank you so much for sharing your story and insights and joining us today here. Thank you. I'm your host Abigail Wood here on Teen Scientists. Thank you so much for listening.