“Kartik Sawhney is a senior at Stanford University majoring in Computer Science with a focus on Artificial Intelligence and Human Computer Interaction. His technical interests lie in machine learning, natural language processing, accessibility and assistive technologies. His past experience includes technical internships at IBM Research and Microsoft, as well as research experience with Stanford HCI group. He has worked on several projects to empower people with disabilities over the years, including project STEMAccess that seeks to empower blind students in India to pursue science using technology and mentoring. He has recently co-founded nextbillion.org, a mentoring portal for people with disabilities, and is working as the technical lead for the company. Besides technical skills, he is very active in disability advocacy, and has worked closely with companies, Governments and international organizations such as the UN to ensure equal access to all opportunities and services.

In recognition of his technical skills and advocacy initiatives, he has been honored with several national and international awards and scholarship including the Queen’s Young Leaders Award 2016 presented by Her Majesty the Queen, Google Lime Scholarship (for excellence in CS), Lime Connect Fellowship (20 students from across the US), National Child Award for Exceptional Achievements (India’s highest honor for young achievers), among others.”