How Mumbai Slum Boy Became Youngest Research Scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center?

Jaikumar lived in a one-room kitchen on the outskirts of Kurla, raised by his single mother, but he was confident that life had big plans for him and he worked tirelessly to earn an engineering degree, which led to his dream of working with NASA Goddard Space ... US Flight Center.

 At a young age. Jay and his mother Nalini were abandoned by their father and the two struggled to have a meal in a day. Nalini had to work harder to take care of Jay, his mother, and his brother. Even though Jay's uncle was healthy, he was not only addicted to drugs but also violent, forcing Jay to grow up at a young age and take over the house. At the age of 10, Jay started working in an electronics store and tried to help his mother as much as he could with her low income.

Although most of the children living in the slum are frustrated by their economic situation and difficult life, leaving school and becoming criminals, Jay and his mother have refused to give up. difficulties. Jay's uncle would constantly argue in the house, and Jay would have to find other places to study in peace. He used to watch tutorials on an old phone he bought from the electronics store where he worked. Jay did his engineering at KJ Somaiya College of Engineering in Mumbai, where the fees were over 1.25 lakh per year, Jay got help from NGOs like MESCO Trust which helped pay for his engineering fees. He has also won more than 10 scholarships, including the Ratan Tata Scholarship for Engineering Students, Somaiya Scholarship, and a few more.

Jay was a brilliant student and spent all night studying during exams, yet he was more interested in the practical side of engineering than the theoretical side. He shares: "I enjoyed researching and creating things, I always questioned stereotypes and, as soon as I finished my studies, I had the opportunity to work as a researcher at the Tata Foundation Research Institute (TIFR)." Jay earned 30,000 rupees every month, researching nanotechnology between 2016 and 2019. Shortly thereafter, he applied for a scholarship and entered the University of Virginia in the United States as a research assistant with his 3.95 / 4.00 CGPA at Graduate School of Electricity. At graduation, he also earns  $2,000  a month, which roughly equates to Rs 1.5 lakh.

Currently working at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center as a researcher, Jay spends her time teaching and educating international students from different countries on various online teaching platforms, such as Chegg Tutors and Teacheron. He won three national awards and four state awards in robotics for building a robot prototype agricultural vehicle.
 
Jay's life has entered the ring in a different way, as he now sends money to his mother in India, where he lives in a better place instead of slums, and to the MESCO NGO who helped him to pay its engineering fees in India. In the future, Jay wants to establish a research center in India that focuses on harnessing the benefits of emerging electronic devices to create volatile, low-power, volatile memory. Jay advises, "There's no point in comparing your life to someone else's, if you're in a bad situation, all you can do is work hard to improve it."