Until the 20th century, women and girls were not encouraged to enter the world of STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics). Things are still not ideal in 2022, but there is certainly no shortage of women doing super interesting work! Let’s meet four of them.
Rohini Londhe manages a facility in Agharkar Research Institute in Pune, which houses special aquatic creatures called Hydra. Rohini grows and maintains these millimetre-long organisms so that scientists can use them to study cell regeneration and animal development. During the lockdown last year, she saved them by carefully packing them up and recreating lab conditions at her own home! Thanks to her attempts, scientists all over the country were able to continue their experiments.
Neeldhara Misra: Strategic thinking and gaming | Photo Credit: Special arrangement
Neeldhara Misra is a computer scientist at IIT-Gandhinagar who works on algorithm design and computational social choice. One of her areas of expertise is combinatorial game theory, which involves studying the strategies and mathematics of two-player games of perfect knowledge (where each player can see all the pieces on the board at all times) such as chess. Neeldhara is also interested in making computational thinking a part of school education, and in using visual tools and narratives for communication.
Rohini Londhe: Investigating Hydra organisms | Photo Credit: Special arrangement
Do you like music? Vinoo Alluri does. This violinist has managed to blend her love for music and science by studying music cognition at IIIT Hyderabad. Her work helps us understand how the brain processes different kinds of music. For this she uses various techniques such as fMRI brain imaging, computational music analysis, and artificial intelligence. Vinoo also explores the relationship between music and depression. Her current work hopes to identify the risk of depression in individuals based on their music-listening habits.
A. Mani: Exchanging ideas via math | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
A. Mani is a researcher in pure mathematics and logic at Indian Statistical Institute in Kolkata. She is interested in areas such as algebra, partial algebra, rough sets, logic, algebraic logic, and vagueness. She is a senior member of the International Rough Set Society, a global forum where researchers who study a mathematical theory called Rough Set Theory can discuss their work and exchange ideas. Mani is also very active in the areas of education research, theory of knowledge, social sciences, feminism, gender studies and applied philosophy.
