Indian boy, 14, wins top Google Community Impact Award

Fourteen-year-old Advay Ramesh from Chennai has bagged the prestigious Google Community Impact Award -- part of Google Science Fair 2016 -- from Asia. The award honours a project that makes a practical difference to the innovator's community by addressing an environmental, health, or resources challenge. Advay - a Class X student in National Public School, Chennai -- was shortlisted among 20 finalists to compete for the $50,000 scholarship from Google.

Advay's project on creating 'FishErmen Lifeline Terminal (FELT)' to enhance the safety and productivity of fishermen using Global Positioning Services (GPS) has won him $10,000 in funding and a year-long mentorship from Scientific American to further help develop his winning project.

"Young minds are inventive, thoughtful, and determined to try things that other people think are "impossible." It's imperative for us to support and encourage these young people to explore and challenge the world around them through scientific discovery. Through the Google Science Fair, we want to encourage and support the next generation of scientists and engineers," a Google spokesperson said.

Google selected top 100 ideas out of thousands of participants. The list includes 14 projects from students from India. These 100 regional finalists will join Google in Mountain View on 27 September for their sixth annual Awards Celebration.

"Winning the Google Community Impact Award means a lot to me, it would help me learn more and develop my idea further," Advay said sharing his excitement on being announced the winner.

-With agency inputs