Class XII Dropout Invents Method to Detect Malnutrition in Children

INSPIRATION

Mohammed Suhail, a 19-year-old class XII dropout has been awarded the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar by President Ram Nath Kovind for his work on detecting malnutrition.

At the age where other teenagers try to live there life through fascination, this 19-year-old kid spent his time inventing a low-cost non-invasive solution to detect malnutrition in kids. This type of personality is a real gem of the country.

Suhail's analytical and challenging curiosity led him to invent this technology by using just a paper. This led him to win an award from the president for his work.

How It All Started

Suhail's childhood was happy and enriching. He used to stay at home and read research papers and books instead of going to school. He also used to conduct experiments at the same time. This took a toll on his grades affecting it.

His keen interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) made him participate in few state and national level competitions. His interest in diagnostics increased when he and his friend Swastik heard the TED talk by Prof. Manu Prakash of Bioengineering at Stanford University, on life-saving diagnostic tools using paper.

Mohammed Suhail and Swastik came across one of the largest international pre-college science competition Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) and decided to take part in it.

After that, there was no going back. He believed in learning and acquiring knowledge on different subjects. He refused to go to school and as a result, started reading research papers instead.

Taking Tough Decisions of Life

He jumped four schools during grades VII to XI and in 2018 it was the toughest decision for him to choose between participating in ISEF and Class XII but he opted the latter. Currently, he is taking homeschooling from tools like Khan Academy and other online materials and is waiting to hear from MIT where he has applied for undergrad in Bioengineering.