India’s Pranet Khetan wins awards at ISEF 2025 for innovation aiding speech disorder

Pranet Khetan, a Grade X student from Shiv Nadar School, Gurgaon, earned international recognition at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) 2025, held in Ohio, USA, where he competed against more than 1,600 young scientists from over 60 countries.

Representing India, Khetan’s project “Paraspeak” received the Fourth Grand Award in the Biomedical Engineering category and an Honourable Mention – Special Award from the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE).

His project, “Paraspeak: A Multi-modal Experiment to Develop End-to-End Speaker-Independent Automatic Speech Recognition Solutions for Dysarthric Speech in Low-Resource Languages,” is designed to help individuals with dysarthria, a motor-speech disorder that causes slurred or unclear speech.

Using artificial intelligence and deep learning, Khetan developed a low-cost, speaker-independent speech recognition system that supports native languages and can be produced for under $25.

“This recognition at ISEF is not just a personal milestone but a testament to how technology can truly serve humanity,” said Khetan. “I'm deeply thankful to Shiv Nadar School for encouraging inquiry-based learning and supporting me throughout this journey.”

Khetan received a $600 cash prize, a one-year student membership to INCOSE, and free virtual access to the 2025 INCOSE International Symposium.

The ISEF 2025 event, hosted at the Greater Columbus Convention Center, featured over 1,300 innovative projects submitted by students from top global institutions such as Bronx High School of Science (USA), Raffles Institution (Singapore), and Seoul Science High School (South Korea).

Competing at this level, Khetan’s achievement highlights both his individual talent and India’s growing role in the global STEM community.

“We are incredibly proud of Pranet’s outstanding achievement at Regeneron ISEF 2025,” said Sameer Arora, Principal, Shiv Nadar School Gurgaon.

“His work exemplifies the spirit of innovation and empathy that we strive to nurture in our students. He has not only represented India but has also showcased the power of purposeful science,” Arora added.

Khetan’s international journey began at the IRIS National Fair, India’s top science competition, where his project was selected among the top 10 from over 2,000 entries.

His success reflects the potential of student-led innovation to address real-world challenges and create impact across borders.