Ashrita

Ashrita is a 16-year-old diver and high school student whose work connects marine ecosystems, space science, and engineering. Her projects range from coral-inspired heat regulation systems and microgravity biomedical devices to underwater drones tracking illegal deep-sea mining and exploring parallels between scuba diving and space. She is the founder of artSTEMic and BhūVyom, nonprofits that make STEM education and conservation topics accessible through art, culture, and storytelling. With over 200 workshops, she has reached 600+ students and 100+ senior citizens worldwide. Outside of research and diving, Ashrita plays the Veena, fences, rides horses, and explores many art forms. Guided by the belief that it’s possible to master everything you love, she hopes to show how diving can spark ideas, change lives, and inspire innovation.

• Wrote & published a calligraphy workbook after training for 7+ years & conducting 30+ free calligraphy workshops
• Founded artSTEMic and BhūVyom in 2022 to make STEM education, marine conservation, climate change, and astronomy fun, easy and accessible via art, crafts, and stories
• Published Website: artstemicxbhuvyom.org
• Level 4 Equestrian & developing a prototype for a horse stride tracker with an IIT-B mentor
• Triple PADI certified— Open Water Diver, Advanced Open Water Diver, and AWARE Coral Reef Conservation
• Designing a prototype for an underwater drone to detect illegal deep-sea mining and monitor marine ecosystems
• Writing a paper & studying connections between scuba diving and outer space to foster cross-environmental exploration
• Designed and simulated porous coral-inspired lattices for efficient thermal regulation systems in extreme environments & authored original research in biomimetic cooling systems with a Cambridge PhD mentor
• Worked with 7 doctors across 5 different medical fields to develop prototypes for microgravity-friendly biomedical devices, like prosthetics, hormone trackers, etc.
• Founded a community-based resin art business; created & sold intricate resin pieces to fund her non-profit initiatives artSTEMic & BhūVyom
• Created personalized hands-on STEM kits to encourage interdisciplinary learning; all profits directly fund artSTEMic & BhūVyom
• Writing a literature review research paper on Deep Sea Mining & its effects
• Certified in game development with deep UI/UX interface