14-year-old Indian American girl builds system to predict driver fatigue, eyes $25,000 prize

Sharvi Mahajan, a 14-year-old Indian-American student at Bernardo Heights Middle School, developed NeuroDrive Alert, an EEG-based machine learning system that monitors brain activity to predict driver fatigue and microsleep.

NeuroDrive Alert uses electroencephalography (EEG) to record brain electrical signals and machine learning to identify fatigue patterns, warning drivers before they fall asleep.

Mahajan is one of 10 finalists in the 2026 3M Young Scientist Challenge, competing for a $25,000 prize.

She is one of five Indian-American finalists; the others are Aaisha Asif, Raji Doshi, Arika Kundu, and Naboshree Santra.