Tanishq Aggarwal

Student innovation initiative

Project GRID

Co-founder and CTO

Project GRID is a youth-led innovation ecosystem helping students move from meaningful public problems to practical, tested solutions.

Visit official project
A large student innovation cohort gathered in an auditorium
A documentary cohort photograph included in the Project GRID Information Brief supplied in July 2026.

01 / Problem

What needed to change

A young person can care deeply about a problem and still have no clear route from curiosity to capability. Many innovation events stop at inspiration or a pitch, leaving students without verified problems, technical support, useful feedback, or a path toward a real pilot.

02 / My role

What I personally did

I co-founded GRID with Moksh Sindhwani and work across its technical and program architecture. My role connects challenge structures, low-bandwidth product thinking, submissions, judging, outreach systems, collaborator communication, and the digital environments that make each program understandable.

03 / Mechanics

How the system works

  1. 01Find verified public problems surfaced by communities, NGOs, schools, and civic partners.
  2. 02Build practical responses through software, hardware, research, CAD, circuits, or documentation.
  3. 03Recognise, mentor, and pilot the strongest ideas through feedback and continued support.
  4. 04Aurora: a year-long global hackathon and changemaking festival designed for students in Grades 8-12.
  5. 05Metamorphosis: outreach and organizing work that helps students identify problems, build early solutions, and continue after the bootcamp.

04 / Decisions

The product judgment

  • Begin with a real need instead of an abstract innovation exercise.
  • Treat software, hardware, research, documentation, and community partnerships as one journey.
  • Design for access, including students in remote and under-resourced contexts.
  • Make stages and expectations visible so ambition can become execution.
A young program participant presenting on stage during Metamorphosis
Ideas take the stage during a student innovation program documented in the GRID brief.
Two young builders standing together during a student innovation program
The people behind the projects, from the approved documentary photo set supplied with the GRID brief.
Students exploring equipment in a hands-on maker space
Prototype culture in practice: tools, teams, and iteration in a hands-on environment.
Three young builders standing together inside a fabrication lab
Young builders inside a fabrication lab, from the GRID brief photo set.
Capture of the official Aurora Global Hackathon website by Project GRID
Aurora’s public program surface, collected from the official Project GRID site in July 2026.View source ↗

05 / Outcomes

What exists now

  • Devpost publicly lists 264 participants for Aurora Global Hackathon.
  • The official program describes four tracks, a 200-team shortlist, and 20 finalists.
  • The official Aurora site names Apple and Featherless AI as program partners.
  • The wider GRID model now connects problem discovery, building, mentorship, and public-use thinking in one student journey.

06 / Sources

Proof and claim boundaries

Public links are attached directly. Private records are identified but never exposed through the site.

Private proof

Co-founder and CTO of Project GRID.

Organization records held privately
Public source

Aurora Global Hackathon publicly lists 264 participants on Devpost.

Open evidence
Public source

Aurora used a multi-stage format with four tracks, a 200-team shortlist, and a top-20 finalist round.

Open evidence
Public source

The official Aurora site names Apple and Featherless AI as program partners.

Open evidence
Private proof

Tanishq served on the Metamorphosis organizing team, while Project GRID served as an outreach partner.

Organizing and outreach documentation held privately