YSU Student Making Global Impacts

By John Stran

Ajinkya Jadhav can be described as persistent. This is true in the array of accomplishments he’s had at just 19 years old.

Jadhav has been at Youngstown State University for the past nine months studying mathematics. Prior to YSU, the India native was studying at Harvard.

His accomplishments were not made in a classroom at either university, but on his own time as he tried to determine any way in which he could help people.

Prior to attending YSU, much of Jadhav’s research dealt with science and military defense. In 2015 he began working on ideas to stop suicide bombers, for which he eventually created a patent and earned a $25,000 scholarship from Google.

He also worked with the Indian Army, where he designed a suit for soldiers that protects them from below freezing temperatures and aids bullet wounds.   

“There are six medicated packets within the suit, so if you were to be shot in your shoulder, the packet would sense the blood flow and burst from inside and relieve the soldier.”   

Since coming to YSU, Jadhav has turned his focus to researching drunken driving. He chose to study this at an Ohio college because of the state’s high rate of accidents involving intoxicated drivers.  

Jadhav helped create a design that uses sensors to detect a person’s blood alcohol level, and will not allow a car to start if the driver has had too much to drink.

In addition to this, he’s conducted TED Talks and is the founder of We All Teens, a platform which Jadhav describes as bringing the world’s smartest students from currently 25 different countries to attempt to solve different global problems.   

“Our platform is confidential and we are supported by the government, intelligence bureaus or the armies of any particular nation,” Jadhav said. “Today, We All Teens is partnered with National Geographic, Scientific American and Business Insider.”

Femi Fabiku, senior criminal justice major at YSU, met Jadhav while both living in the Lyden House dorms and said he’s been impressed by Jadhav’s work so far.

“Lots of people talk about the military suit he designed for his country’s army,” Fabiku said. “Since I’m a criminal justice major, I like to support his dedication towards society.”

Photo by Tanner Mondok/The Jambar

Fabiku also likes the idea of We All Teens adding that he’s seen Jadhav video chatting back and forth with many different people, including some prominent entrepreneurs.

With each creation, Jadhav has had the opportunity to travel across the globe and connect with a variety of cultures, experiencing what may be, for some, a lifetime’s worth of adventures in a brief amount of time.

But Jadhav said the opportunities did not come without sacrifice.

“You have to give something if you want to achieve something,” Jadhav said.

His advice to others who want to become inventors is that you don’t always have to be successful, describing his first journey within the science world as unsuccessful.

Jadhav said he’s currently working on a pitch for the cast of the investment TV show “Shark Tank,” and is expecting to make an appearance on the show sometime during the winter.