Monaz Gandhi, a pre-school teacher in Mumbai at the Learning Curve School, was awarded the SXRC Creation Award by SystemX Research Centre (SXRC), Bengaluru, for single-handedly programming India’s very first teaching Humanoid Robot, ‘MONTEA’. The invention came into light when a team of doctors and researchers from SXRC, Bengaluru, comprising Dr. Vikram Aditya Singh – Chief Technology Officer, Dr. Sharmin Mehta – Research Scientist and Gynaecologist, and Dr. Prachi Tejpal – Research Scientist and Neurologist, addressed an internal meet where they showcased the functionality of MONTEA and were surprised by the creation and work done by a non-scientific background based individual.

The robot MONTEA, named based on its creator Monaz Gandhi (MON) and its behaviour as a Teacher (TEA), services not just as a Patient Care Mediator, but also as a Teacher when needed. “The main feature is to help kids learn by showing different practical aspects of the topic, as well as using its own human-encoded sense of humour, making it a fun experience for kids to learn,” said Dr. Sharmin Mehta, close friend and mentor of Monaz, who guided her through this project, heaping praise on her dedication towards doing something that she wasn’t familiar with and also being actively involved in teaching at the same time. As a mark of further reward, SXRC will bear all of Monaz’s educational expenses and will support her in her future endeavours.