Teen CTO’s Mental Health App Wins America’s Top Young Innovator 2025

DiscoverSTEM Student Arjun Kommidi Recognized for Developing Technology to Support Children’s Mental and Emotional Well-Being

DALLAS, TX / ACCESS Newswire / March 5, 2026 / Arjun Kommidi, a high school student from DiscoverSTEM’s Research and Innovation Lab, has been named the winner of America’s Top Young Innovators 2025, held at the University of Texas at Dallas. Kommidi earned the title for developing and commercializing an AI-powered system that helps parents understand the mental, emotional, and behavioral development of children through peer-to-peer feedback.

The competition, which drew more than 800 attendees from around the world, recognized student-led projects across artificial intelligence, robotics, healthcare, and environmental sustainability, demonstrating that young innovators aged 10 to 22 are actively addressing pressing global challenges.

Addressing Teen Mental Health Through Technology

With nearly one in three adolescents reporting persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, teen mental health has emerged as a critical concern across the United States. Kommidi’s innovation provides parents with insights into their children’s well-being through a system designed for early detection and behavioral insight.

“For many teens, speaking up about mental health is difficult,” Kommidi explained. “Technology can give parents a bridge to connect to their child’s world as they undergo challenges related to mental, emotional, behavioral, and intellectual development.”

Kommidi dedicated two years to bringing his innovation from concept to commercialized product. Working through DiscoverSTEM’s Ivy League Mentorship Program, where he has been a student since seventh grade, Kommidi secured a patent, obtained seed funding, and launched his system with support from industry partners including KnackForge Inc., a Texas-based software consulting firm specializing in GenAI-powered applications.

Hidvika Dubey, a high school sophomore from Southlake, Texas, partnered with Kommidi to ensure the system was built on credible psychological and behavioral research. “We spent months immersed in research, drawing insights from the International Personality Item Pool-a global scientific effort that develops sophisticated measures of personality and individual differences-and the DSM-5-TR,” Dubey shared. “It was important to us that the framework stood on solid scientific footing.”

“We believe AI becomes powerful only when it stays personal,” said Vannia Rajan, Co-Founder and CTO of KnackForge. “Through partnerships like this, we’re helping innovators and the communities they serve win together.”

Youth Innovation Spans Multiple Disciplines

The competition recognized several other young innovators whose projects addressed challenges ranging from mental health to space debris:

• Ashaz Haque and Hadiya Sameen were recognized for developing the AI algorithm for Mylin, an app designed to predict early signs of mental illness among teenagers.

• Aryaanshi Sundaram explored “Green AI” through a comparative study of large language models and smaller language models, examining their energy efficiency and environmental impact. “Competing here showed me that technology and innovation is not just for professors or scientists working in labs,” Sundaram said. “Even young teenagers can tackle pressing world problems with their ideas and solutions.”

• Aayan Ali built an algorithm to automatically align a space debris cleaning system in orbit toward target debris.

• Gabriele Hiruedhay developed a model to predict and prevent knee injuries in sports.

• Ayush Veer Davuluri created an AI-powered robotic system to track, monitor, and predict termite and pest activity.

DiscoverSTEM: Building Tomorrow’s Innovators

As the official Innovation Partner for America’s Top Young Innovators, DiscoverSTEM provides mentorship, research facilities, and patent-filing support to help students transform ideas into real-world innovations. Over the past five years, the organization has mentored hundreds of students, with 700 filing patent applications and 345 securing patents in the United States and internationally.

DiscoverSTEM operates a state-of-the-art Research and Innovation Lab in Plano, Texas, where students engage in cutting-edge research across fields including aerospace, artificial intelligence, genomics, biotechnology, neurotechnology, and environmental sciences. The organization offers free innovation camps to competition participants and assists with intellectual property protection through the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

On March 18, 2025, the Texas House of Representatives recognized DiscoverSTEM’s contributions through House Resolution #403, formally acknowledging the organization’s role in shaping the innovators and leaders of tomorrow.

Gurvinder Singh Ahluwalia, founder of Digital Twin Labs and former IBM CTO, attended the event and called the students’ work “a reminder that the future of science and technology lies in the creativity of our youth.”

About America’s Top Young Innovators

America’s Top Young Innovators is a global innovation competition for students aged 10 to 22, designed to showcase how young minds apply science, technology, and creativity to solve real-world challenges. The competition serves as both a recognition of student achievements and a platform for connecting young innovators with the resources and support needed to scale their innovations.

For more information about America’s Top Young Innovators, visit www.topyounginnovators.org.

About DiscoverSTEM

DiscoverSTEM is an organization dedicated to fostering the intellectual and creative potential of youth through hands-on research, mentorship, and innovation support. The organization provides students with the tools and guidance needed to transform ideas into impactful innovations. For more information, visit www.discoverstem.info.

Media Contact:
Sakib Shaikh
DiscoverSTEM
info@discoverstem.info

SOURCE: DiscoverSTEM

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