Maanasa Mendu, a 13-year-old Indian American girl, has won the 2016 Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge and awarded with the reputable ‘America’s Top Young Scientist’, reported The American Bazaar.

This eight-grade student of William Mason High School, Ohio won this award for her cost-effective device to generate electricity from wind power in an eco-friendly way. Apart from the honour, she also received a whopping $25,000 cash prize (Rs.16 Lacs) for her future endeavours.

Mendu got the idea of developing this technology when she visited India and observed few villagers with no access to affordable energy and water.

Mendu then created a technology that could create energy using solar leaves. Solar leaves generate energy from precipitation, wind and the sun using a solar cell and piezoelectric (materials that possess the ability to generate an electric charge in response to applied mechanical stress) material. Just like the plants, the leaves receive energy from nature.

The device is placed at an affordable cost of $5.

“Her scientific thinking reflected the competition’s goal of applying science to everyday life, creating a solution that will improve lives and strengthen communities around the globe,” Discovery Education and 3M said in a joint statement.

Mendu wrote in her blogpost,

"Along the way, I have learned so much about the process of innovation. Innovation is more than just a light bulb moment, it’s rather a continuous expansion very much like our universe."

Rohan Wagh, of Portland, Ore., was awarded second place at the final event, earning a $1,000 prize and a trip to a taping of a show on Discovery’s family of networks.

Wagh, a ninth grader at Sunset High School in Beaverton School District, received second place for his innovation that utilizes the natural metabolism of bacteria to create energy.

Meghna Behari, of Swickley, Pa.; Mrinali Kesavadas, of Mahomet, Ill.; Rohit Mital, of Rochester Hills, Mich.; and Sara Makboul, of Acworth, Ga., finished within the bottom five spots, though their exact positioning was not disclosed. Each earned a $1,000 prize and a $500 Excitations gift card.

Since its inception in 2008, the Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge has awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars in student prizes, paired students with world-renowned scientists to give them real-world insights and delivered much-needed science resources to millions of students, teachers and families across the country.

The competition targets students in the years when research indicates their interest in science begins to wane and encourages them to explore scientific concepts and creatively communicate their findings.

Winners have gone on to be featured in Forbes magazine’s annual “30 Under 30” list, speak in front of members of Congress and attendees at the United Nations, meet the president of the United States and demonstrate inventions on national television programs.

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