The Indian American is featured on 2018 ‘Forbes 30 under 30 List’
Tirthak Saha is one of a number of young Indian Americans featured in this year’s “Forbes 30 under 30 List.”
The Fort Wayne, Indiana, resident joins illustrious figures such as Mark Zuckerberg, Malala Yousafzai, Michael Phelps and Evan Spiegel, who were featured on the list in previous years.
Saha has been chosen by the Forbes for his work on power generation and distribution. His research area includes energy efficiency in systems, reliable electric delivery, and a fossil fuel independent future.
Saha told The Times of India that his dream was to study astrophysics instead of electrical engineering, but he couldn’t make it because of a high cut-off score for the Physics program at the Delhi University.
“The recognition is based on one’s entire career trajectory and is given to those who have the potential to disrupt the industries they look at. It’s like a lifetime achievement award but under the age of 30,” he told the paper.
Tirthak Saha was rejected by Delhi University
Saha, 25, who is from Delhi was denied admission in astrophysics at Delhi University. He later moved to the US in 2013 after completing his studies from St Columbia’s Delhi and Manipal in Karnataka.
Now he is working for American Electric Power (AEP), which provides electricity to 5.4 million people in 11 US states.
He has also worked with NASA Pennsylvania Space Grant to design an origami-based modular solar panel array for mini satellites. His stint with NASA was during his scholarship at Drexel University in Philadelphia. During this period he got recruited by the AEP from the campus itself.
When asked about his contributions, Saha said that power should not be a luxury but a basic right.
“The aging electric grids in the US were nearly a century old and hadn’t seen much innovation and he was incorporating smart grid technology to make AEP’s grid safer and more reliable,” Saha told The Times.
Saha’s father is a government school teacher, and his mother works for the postal department in Delhi.