• USC Senior Ananya Cleetus Receives Carnegie Science Award

    Presented by Pittsburgh Technology Council, Ananya Cleetus was named the recipient of the 2015 acleetus Carnegie Science “Start-Up Entrepreneur Award.” She will receive her recognition at the 19th annual Carnegie Science Awards dinner on May 8 in the Carnegie Music Hall in Oakland. The Carnegie Science Awards, which began in 1997, honors innovation in science and technology through recognition of the achievements of our region’s top scientists, engineers, educators, and innovators.
     
    A budding roboticist, Ananya designed and built multiple robotic prostheses. She was one of 32 students and student teams - and the only student from Pennsylvania - selected from across the country to present their projects at the 2014 White House Science Fair. Ananya presented a robotic prosthetic hand designed to aid leprosy victims. She chose to focus her project on people in India who have lost limbs due to leprosy, a chronic infection that causes damage to the skin, nerves, and mucous membranes.
     
    Ananya has also founded the tech startup "Magikstra," a social network for ambitious STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics) students like herself.
     
    An article about Ananya in the Pittsburgh Tribune Review online TribLive can be read by clicking here.
     
    "Ananya is a very talented young lady," stated Dr. Patrick T. O'Toole, Superintendent of Schools. "I offer my congratulations to Ananya for the many awards and recognitions she is receiving related to the robotic prostheses she has designed and wish her much success in her future endeavors."