Belleville, Ontario · Grade 12 · IB & OSSD · Class of 2027
I design AI-powered hardware that helps people see, ride and stay safe, and I teach younger students in my community to build their own.
#1 in Canada
CAYIA Grand Award, Canada Youth Innovation Competition, $10,000
Engineering Innovation Award
Canada-Wide Science Fair, one project in the entire fair
Ingenious+ National Finalist
Rideau Hall Foundation, Ontario's top entry
CWSF Gold Medal
Canada-Wide Science Fair, plus the Digital Technology Challenge Award
Profile
Surya Narayan Santhakumar is a Grade 12 International Baccalaureate (IB) and Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) student at Eastside Secondary School in Belleville, Ontario, Canada, graduating in 2027 with a 95% average. He is a community-driven, pre-incorporation tech entrepreneur who designs edge AI, robotics and embedded systems for safety and accessibility.
He created VisionIQ, an offline AI wearable for people with visual impairments that won the 2026 Canada Youth Innovation Competition (CAYIA) Grand Award as the #1 project in Canada, and SafeRider, an AI-powered smart bike helmet that made him Ontario's 2026 Ingenious+ National Finalist with the Rideau Hall Foundation. He is a Canada-Wide Science Fair gold medallist and the recipient of the 2026 CWSF Engineering Innovation Award.
Outside the lab, he founded the Belleville Public Library's first coding workshop program, teaching Python, micro:bit, robotics and AI to more than 100 children, and leads the Youth Wing of the United Nations Association in Canada, Quinte Branch. He is passionate about making technology accessible and solving real-world problems through STEM.
6 builds since 2021
Each one started with a problem I saw in my own community, and each was built from concept to working prototype.
Offline AI wearable for visual impairment
A hands-free, AI-powered wearable that helps people who are blind or have low vision navigate, read and understand their surroundings. It runs entirely offline, so it works anywhere and keeps every user's data private.
AI-powered smart bike helmet
A smart helmet that uses computer vision to detect approaching vehicles, adds turn signals and laser path lines for visibility, and sends the rider's location and a crash report to emergency contacts after a fall. Now being developed into a compact minimum viable product, with international patent protection being pursued through the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), funded by national innovation grants.
A symptom-matching expert system written in Prolog and bridged to a simple Python interface. It gives young athletes a confidence-scored read on a possible sports injury. It's aimed at the 2.5 million+ children and teens the CDC reports are treated for sports injuries each year, most with limited access to diagnostic tools. Developed and tested at my high school.
An iOS app that routes users toward lower-carbon commute options. I validated demand with a 120-respondent survey, in which 9 in 10 people said they would use it.
Top secondary project, QRSTF 2024 · Canada-Wide Science Fair 2024 National Finalist (top 2% in Canada)
An autonomous, app-controlled snow-removal robot built over three development phases into a Raspberry Pi platform. It has a first-of-its-kind time-optimized plow design, a Swift and SwiftUI companion app with remote control and live video, and automatic snowfall alerts. It's built for the roughly 10,200 Canadians, over half of them seniors, who are injured clearing snow each year.
CWSF 2022 Gold Medal & Digital Technology Challenge Award
A micro:bit and infrared-sensor device I built in Grade 6 for about $60 in parts. It let small businesses screen temperatures and track occupancy at the same time during COVID-19. It's the project that sparked my ongoing interest in hardware.
Queen's University IDEAS Initiative Bronze Medal, 3rd place nationally
Regional, national & international
National recognition from the Canada-Wide Science Fair, the Rideau Hall Foundation and CAYIA, plus 40+ regional awards since Grade 6.
Youth Innovation Awards Foundation · top honour, $10,000
Ranked the #1 project in Canada among 45 national award winners. VisionIQ advanced from a Canada-wide blind online review to the live Finalist Roadshow, where I defended it before a five-member panel of professors, executives and investors. Followed by meetings with Alex Cui, co-founder and CTO of GPTZero and founder of the Youth Innovation Awards Foundation, and other venture investors and industry experts about scaling VisionIQ.
Canada-Wide Science Fair, Edmonton · Engineering Institute of Canada & Canadian Society for Senior Engineers · $1,000
Given to one outstanding engineering project in the entire fair for an innovative, creative and well-tested solution to a real-world problem.
Youth Science Canada · Digital Technology
One of about 400 finalists selected from roughly 15,000 young Canadians.
Rideau Hall Foundation · $1,000 grant
The top entry for Ontario, and the province's only national finalist from 100 regional recipients. Represented Ontario at the national stage in Ottawa and was invited by Her Excellency the Right Honourable Mary Simon, Governor General of Canada, to the Governor General's Innovation Awards at Rideau Hall during Canadian Innovation Week. Met angel mentor and investor Jean-Simon Venne, co-founder and CTO of BrainBox AI.
Rideau Hall Foundation · $1,000 grant
Honoured in Toronto by the Honourable Edith Dumont, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario.
Youth Science Canada, Ottawa · Digital Technology
One of about 400 finalists selected from roughly 25,000 young Canadians.
Youth Science Canada
Gold among about 400 national finalists selected from roughly 25,000 young Canadians.
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
Ted Rogers Community Grants, Youth Science Canada & Rogers
Queen's University · Canadian online science fair
New York Academy of Sciences
Selected from a competitive international pool with roughly a 10% acceptance rate.
Competing since Grade 6: 6× Best-in-Grade Gold Medalist, 5× Best in Fair and 40+ awards since 2021. In 2026 I moved from contestant to alumni judge and mentor.
| Award | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best in Grade Gold Medal Grades 6 to 11 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
| Best in Fair by division | 2021 Junior | 2022 Intermediate | 2023 Intermediate | 2024 Senior | 2026 Senior | |
| Dennis Kritzer Computer Science Programming Award | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
| Panch Yogeswaran Engineering, Robotics & AI Award | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2026 | ||
| Most Innovative Application of Technology OACETT | 2022 | 2024 | 2025 | |||
| Centre for Workforce Development Futures Award | 2021 | 2022 | ||||
| Professional Engineers Ontario Junior Award | 2021 | |||||
| Allegra Belleville Best Display Board Award | 2026 |
300+ volunteer hours
More than 300 documented volunteer hours across my library workshops, the United Nations Association and school service, alongside IB courses.
Founded the library's first coding workshop program and self-funded it with my science fair prize grants. I designed a full micro:bit, Python, robotics and introductory AI curriculum from scratch and have taught 100+ children aged 7 to 14, with back-to-back full cohorts. It's the region's first library-hosted micro:bit and AI workshop series.
I lead the branch's Youth Wing under the mentorship of the President, building new local partnerships around the UN Sustainable Development Goals. I also run the branch website, social media, event certificates and on-site event technology on my own, and help coordinate 3 annual events with 150+ guests each, where I also perform as the youth pianist.
I lead a 30-member club covering rockets, space, mathematics, coding and electronics. It fills a gap in structured, project-based STEM beyond the curriculum. We train for and compete in intercity hackathons, both individually and as a team.
I deliver a semester-long formal peer-tutoring program, combining classroom-wide support for 30 students with one-on-one mentoring. Tutored students saw 10–15% average grade gains, 3 to 4 at-risk students completed the course, and the class had a 100% pass rate.
As the school's designated technology ambassador to incoming students, I reach roughly 150 prospective students across 3+ feeder schools.
I designed advertising posters for local businesses in exchange for sponsorships, raising $1,500+ in cash and gift vouchers from 3 major local sponsors, and negotiated discounted food for event day, alongside individual community fundraising.
After competing since Grade 6, I now evaluate current participants' projects as an alumni judge and coach them in STEM and coding.
I'm one of the senior students who welcome Grade 9s and help them succeed in high school through communication, responsibility and empathy.
IB Programme & OSSD
A 95% average in the IB Programme and OSSD at Eastside Secondary School, with the Outstanding Student Award with Honours and Distinction every year since Grade 9.
Beyond the lab
Earned after 6+ years of training. I now train and assist lower-belt students at the Kenzo Dozono dojo, and represent the region at karate seminars in other cities with my Sensei.
I perform as the youth pianist at United Nations Association events, welcoming 150+ guests during arrival and registration.
Top Instrumental Music Student (2024), Grade 9 Music Award, and Excellence in Performance at the Long & McQuade Student Recital (2024).
Point guard, shooting guard and small forward at both school and representative level, competing in COSSA and The Coalition Basketball League (U19), playing an age bracket above my own.
Coverage, 2022–2026
“It was really inspiring to see the work you did with VisionIQ. You're going to go far Surya!”
“We are proud of all Surya has accomplished and know he will accomplish more…”
Contact
For mentorship, collaboration, media or scholarship enquiries, email is the fastest way to reach me.
suryanarayan.santhakumar@gmail.com