A final year student at the Federal Center for Technological Education (Cefet-RJ), Lucas Tejedor, 18, is one of the top 50 winners of the “Chegg.org Global Student Prize 2022”, an annual competition that selects the best students in the world.
Among those selected are students who have developed projects aimed at the environment and the fight against social inequality. The carioca was selected from nearly 7,000 nominations and candidates from 150 countries and is in the running for a prize of US$100,000.
Lucas’ curriculum includes several projects, such as an application that was used at the school where he studies to help people know where to recycle e-waste. Another project developed by the student is a drone with artificial intelligence that, through sensors, can identify small fires.
Recently, the young man began to develop a new technology based on Artificial Intelligence capable of detecting oil leakage in pipeline networks. In the social field, Lucas created a platform in partnership with the organization Casa de Cáritas.
Ubuntu is a site that shows you where to find non-profit organizations across the country and also allows donations of products to the community. The tool shows the available items and interested parties can request the product in exchange for another.
In an interview with CNN the student says he was surprised to be among the 50 selected and that his goal is to be able to help the population through his ideas.
“I’m usually pretty optimistic, but I definitely wasn’t confident that I would be selected. My biggest motivation is to help as many people as possible. This may seem a bit generic, but it’s not when you consider that I try to do what I see that will have the biggest impact. This occurred when I decided to find out what the NGOs needed so that they could do their work more efficiently. No matter the problem, if there’s a way I can help, I’ll do it,” she reveals.
Lucas’ entrepreneurial streak began when he was still a teenager, when he decided, at age 12, to open a company in his grandmother’s name to be able to take business and business administration courses offered by the portal of the Brazilian Micro and Small Business Support Service (Sebrae-RJ). ).
The student accumulates 17 awards, including first place at Exposup, a technology fair aimed at college students, even though they have not yet completed high school.
To continue the projects, Lucas Tejedor dreams of studying Law. He believes that through advocacy he will be able to examine laws and improve them, all for the benefit of the population.
“I imagine that the entity that most impacts society is the government. So, if the government does things right, society benefits a lot. If the government is working well, as if putting the rules in the game, NGOs and companies also work. My objective with the Law is very simple: if I manage, in some way, to analyze public policies and see if the measures adopted by the laws have any scientific evidence, I can help many people. My purpose is to help not only Brazil, but also governments around the world”, says the student.
Tejedor comments that the award is incredible because it will make him more famous and, thus, be able to invest more in the projects. If he wins the prize, he intends to invest the money in new projects.
“I would create a basic server to help NGOs, because it is a low investment with a high result and, in this way, I have access to millions of NGOs. I would save a part and apply it in a basic investment so that this would be an even greater capital in the future and with that amount I would continue helping the population. I want to invest in a startup. During college I intend, if possible, to create a startup that can create one thing and then, with that money, I was able to leverage my desire to be a policy consultant worldwide. That’s my goal, at least. I also want to invest in the Amazon drone to effectively monitor the forests,” he adds.
* Under supervision of Isabelle Resende
Source: CNN Brasil
