When his grandfather’s hands shook so badly that he couldn’t hold a glass of water, a Fayette County whiz kid set out to make life easier for people with Parkinson’s disease.
Credit: Phil Skinner
Credit: Phil Skinner
Aadi Vaidya, a junior at McIntosh High School in Peachtree City, designed TremorTech, a glove to reduce tremors — one of the disease’s most debilitating and frustrating effects.
“[My grandfather] couldn’t eat with a spoon or fork,” Aadi said. “It was hard on him, and it was hard to witness.”
Credit: Phil Skinner
Credit: Phil Skinner
Problem-solving comes naturally to Aadi, whose parents are engineers and whose grandparents on both sides have backgrounds in engineering and accounting.
“As a family, we inspire him to think independently and critically and to try to solve problems rather than just doing a science project,” said Vinayak Vaidya, Aadi’s father.
The family introduced Aadi, an only child, to 3-D modeling tools at an early age.
Credit: Phil Skinner
Credit: Phil Skinner
“He took off from there, with help from his middle school and high school science teachers,” his father said.
He’s earned multiple awards for his inventions, which include:
- A conical or cone-shaped device to prevent back-pressure soaking when turning off an outdoor faucet.
- A bird feeder that blocks squirrels.
- A moisture gauge to prevent over- or underwatering plants.
Now, he’s testing TremorTech, inspired by the struggles of his grandfather, who lives in the family’s homeland of India and was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2017.
Credit: Photo courtesy of Aadi Vaidya and family
Credit: Photo courtesy of Aadi Vaidya and family
Aadi hasn’t decided whether he’ll try to market his glove to the public. He knows there are other tremor gloves in all price ranges. But he seems confident that his invention will stand up well against the competition.
“I have things on mine which make it novel compared to others,” he said.
His glove has a gyroscope to counteract tremors, a shock absorber for finger stability, and vibration motors to ease the tremor pain.
Aadi’s innovative streak also led him to create a wearable sensory device for the visually impaired, another invention inspired by a hardship his grandfather endures. The invention won him a spot at the International Science and Engineering Fair in Dallas.
That experience connected him with global investors and thinkers who are just like him, Aadi’s father said.
“It provided him an opportunity to witness some incredibly innovative projects and out-of-the-box thinking,” he said.
Credit: Photo courtesy of Vaidya family
Credit: Photo courtesy of Vaidya family
Since last fall, Aadi has been honing his entrepreneurial skills with help from Launch Fayette, a new partnership of the Fayette County Development Authority, Fayette County Public Schools, and Southern Crescent Technical College.
The program is designed to help budding local entrepreneurs — both students and adults — learn from people with proven track records. Steve Justice, a Fayette County resident and former head of the Centers of Innovation at the state Department of Economic Development, spearheaded the program’s creation and is its director.
“We give them programming education, mentorship and connections to resources both locally and statewide,” Justice said. “They learn about start-up culture, and the most important thing is that they learn to be entrepreneurs. They have that skill set.”
Eight high school students — including Aadi — were selected for the first student class of Launch Fayette. Student participants must work into their busy school schedules a weekly meeting with their mentor on topics tailored to their individual interests, Justice said.
He said some of Aadi’s mentoring time is being spent in preparation for the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in May in Columbus, Ohio, where he’ll demonstrate TremorTech.
Launch Fayette introduced Aadi to Dr. Evan Johnson, a Piedmont Fayette Hospital neurologist specializing in Parkinson’s. Johnson praised both Aadi and his work.
“Aadi has a very remarkable mind,” Johnson said. “I look at folks like him, and I am just awestruck.”
And of Aadi’s latest invention, TremorTech, Johnson said: “His invention is more advanced than I’d expect from a college student. He’s operating more at a grad school level.”
Learn more about Launch Fayette at launchfayette.org
Box
Aadi Vaidya’s honors
Presidential recognition award signed by then President of USA.
- Multiple Georgia Student competition awards at regional and State levels
- GA Tech K12-Inventure Award
- Drone Team International Award for 2023
- National Science Bowl finals participant
- Georgia Student Engineering and Science Fair (GSEF 2023,2024)
- International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF 2023)
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