Harshwardhan Zala – The Boy Who Signed A 5 Crore Deal At Age 14

Here’s a story of a 14 year old Indian boy that’ll make you think before you use the typical tag line “Kids these days.” Harshwardhan Zala, a Gujarat based teenager has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) worth Rs. 5 crore with the Department of Science and Technology (Government of Gujarat) at 8th edition of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2017. Studying in class 10, this young prodigy has designed a drone technology that can detect and defuse landmines in the war fields, potentially saving lives.

Zala said, “The inspiration struck when I was watching television and learned that a large number of soldiers succumb to injuries sustained due to landmine blasts while defusing them manually.”  With the much needed encouragement and financial support from his parents, he was able to develop his first two prototypes, which costed him around 2 Lakh rupees. Later the state government stepped in to support his project, after which he filed a request to patent his idea.

The landmine-detecting drone prototype comes fully equipped with infrared, RGB sensor and thermal meter along with a 21-megapixel camera with a mechanical shutter that can take high-resolution pictures as well. It is designed to send out waves that cover eight sq. mt area while flying two feet above the surface; capable of detecting land mines and communicating their location with a base station. Apart from detecting, the drone is also capable of defusing the landmine with an inbuilt carrier which holds a bomb weighing 50 grams.

This young prodigy has already set up his own company called “Aerobotics 7”, and aims to make it bigger than the major players in the field of innovation & technology like Apple and Google.