AA.

Projects

Plas-Stick is a water-treatment project that uses tamarind-seed waste to collect microplastics.

My team and I developed a powder using tamarind seeds that brings microplastics together so they can be collected with a magnet. We tested its performance, reuse, and preparation cost. The larger question for me is how a laboratory idea could become an affordable part of local water treatment.

This work connects cleaner water and waste reuse with the practical decisions that determine whether an environmental solution gets used.

Add · Plas-Stick demonstrationAddCollect · Plas-Stick demonstrationCollectRecover · Plas-Stick demonstrationRecover
The three-step Plas-Stick demonstration.
Plas-Stick featured by Times Now.
Plas-Stick featured by Times Now.
BBC News × Global Women · the Plas-Stick team.
BBC News × Global Women · the Plas-Stick team.

Photos & implementation

Laboratory record

8 images
Adding the composite.
Adding the composite.
Collecting the material with a magnet.
Collecting the material with a magnet.
Recovering the composite.
Recovering the composite.
Plas-Stick laboratory research — paper page 3, photograph 1
Plas-Stick laboratory research — paper page 3, photograph 1
Plas-Stick laboratory research — paper page 3, photograph 2
Plas-Stick laboratory research — paper page 3, photograph 2
Plas-Stick laboratory research — paper page 3, photograph 3
Plas-Stick laboratory research — paper page 3, photograph 3
Plas-Stick laboratory research — paper page 4, photograph 1
Plas-Stick laboratory research — paper page 4, photograph 1
Plas-Stick laboratory research — paper page 4, photograph 2
Plas-Stick laboratory research — paper page 4, photograph 2

Researcher · Sigma Xi IFoRE Top 2% · Presented at IIT Guwahati

Plas-Stick: Efficacy, Cost & Use Study

Documents & letters

Plas-Stick: Efficacy, Cost & Use Study Bio-magnetic coagulant · complete specification Plas-Stick press collection IIT Guwahati E-Cell · UDGAM ’26 Shining World Invention Award

Awards

The Earth Prize 2026

Global Winner · Plas-Stick

Team recognition for Ariana Agarwal, Avyana Mehta, and Vivaan Chhawchharia.

Official winner page

Young Climate Prize

Cycle 03 cohort · Ariana Agarwal & Vivaan Chhawchharia

The World Around’s cohort profile describes Ariana’s work in finance, outreach, and communications, alongside research, testing, and product development for Plas-Stick.

Official cohort profile

Shining World Invention Award

Award letter · Plas-Stick team

The letter offers US$12,500 toward further development.

View supporting image
Shining World Invention Award supporting document

Sigma Xi IFoRE

Top 2% · Plas-Stick research

Researcher — Plas-Stick: Efficacy, Cost & Use Study; presented at IIT Guwahati.

Media & recognition

160 references

News & media

Official & institutional

Education & current affairs

LinkedIn

Instagram

Other social media

Print coverage

2 images
San Marg · 24 May 2026.
San Marg · 24 May 2026.
Dainik Bhaskar · newspaper clipping.
Dainik Bhaskar · newspaper clipping.

GrainOS helps farmers monitor stored grain, reduce spoilage risks, and make better-informed selling decisions.

Our device monitors storage conditions and brings those readings together with market information. The aim is to help farmers spot spoilage risks and make better-informed decisions about when to sell. We developed and improved the hardware, then took it into the field for feedback.

For me, reducing food loss also means understanding the costs, information, and support that farmers need to use a new tool.

The first prototype and upgraded GrainOS unit.
The first prototype and upgraded GrainOS unit.
GrainOS hardware in the field.
GrainOS hardware in the field.
The GrainOS team at the Limitless World Summit.
The GrainOS team at the Limitless World Summit.

Photos & implementation

GrainOS development record

5 images
The first prototype and upgraded unit.
The first prototype and upgraded unit.
The GrainOS device in the field.
The GrainOS device in the field.
The GrainOS team at the Limitless World Summit.
The GrainOS team at the Limitless World Summit.
Village testimonial.
Village testimonial.
Recommendation letter.
Recommendation letter.

Documents & letters

Bhagirath Choudhary Village Panchayat testimonial

Awards

Diamond Challenge 2026

Capital One Pathways to Prosperity Prize · Business winner

GrainOS was a finalist and won the $1,500 Business topical prize at the Limitless World Summit. The official results name Ariana Agarwal, Meagan Ghai, Naysa Singhal, and advisor Minal Jain.

University of Delaware award results View supporting image
Diamond Challenge 2026 supporting document

Media & recognition

University of Delaware · GrainOS at the Limitless World Summit

Through the Informal Economy Index, I study how informal workers access banking and other financial services.

I carried out community visits and survey work across eight cities, asking how workers save, borrow, and use banking services. Those conversations informed financial-literacy outreach, including a workshop at the ACORN Foundation in Mumbai.

The project asks how public policy can respond to lived experience, and why access on paper does not always translate into useful support.

Informal Economy Index · fieldwork in Mumbai.
Informal Economy Index · fieldwork in Mumbai.
Informal Economy Index · conversations in Jaipur.
Informal Economy Index · conversations in Jaipur.
Informal Economy Index · community visits in Faridabad.
Informal Economy Index · community visits in Faridabad.
Read the related Jhunjhunu study

Documents & letters

Informal Economy Index · field album ACORN Foundation

Awards

Ashoka Young Changemaker

Selected for the Young Changemakers network

Hindustan Times coverage identifies Ariana as one of 15 teen changemakers selected that year for her Informal Economy Index work.

View supporting image
Ashoka Young Changemaker supporting document

IB Global Youth Action Fund

Informal Economy Index · project profile

Informal Economy Index · project profile in the IB’s Festival of Hope / Youth in Action collection.

IB project profile

Media & recognition

businessline Changemaker Awards 2026

IB Global Youth Action Fund

Hindustan Times · Ariana’s Ashoka Young Changemaker feature.
Hindustan Times · Ariana’s Ashoka Young Changemaker feature.

Untabooed is an illustrated Hindi storybook that makes conversations about puberty, menstrual health, consent, and the body easier to begin.

I worked as editor alongside our author and illustrators. We brought the book into government-school sessions, using stories to make sensitive questions more approachable. The project report records five sessions with more than 150 participants.

It is a lesson in making public-health information accessible: the language, setting, and trust around a conversation matter as much as the information itself.

The Untabooed team.
The Untabooed team.
A page from the illustrated Hindi storybook.
A page from the illustrated Hindi storybook.
A school session with Untabooed.
A school session with Untabooed.

Documents & letters

Untabooed · project report

Awards

Global Social Leaders 2024

Senior Winner · Sattva / Untabooed

The official results name Sattva, the team behind Untabooed at Jayshree Periwal International School, as the 2024 Senior Winner.

Official competition results

Youth Ideathon 2024

Entrepreneurship track · standout innovation

Untabooed · team 2F11636 · Entrepreneurship track. Team: Ariana Agarwal, Jiya Kothari, and Nandini Mathur.

View supporting image
Youth Ideathon 2024 supporting document

Media & recognition

Global Social Leaders · Sattva / Untabooed