Palm Harbor Student Develops App Academy After Publishing 18 Apps

PALM HARBOR, FL — Ayush Pai, a student from Palm Harbor, was awarded the STEAM Scholarship by the National Society of High School Scholars.

NSHSS created this award to honor students who embrace and celebrate STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, or mathematics). Of nearly 800 applicants, Pai was one of 10 students who were selected to receive the $1,000 scholarship.

Throughout high school, Pai explored the technology and entrepreneurial worlds. He developed an online renting marketplace, Rentathon, where he learned about user authentication, database management and user interactions. Developing an intelligent sorting algorithm, QR code transaction system and automated background check system, he immersed himself in the startup world.

Diving deeper into the world of app development, he created a firm, Neuralgorithmic. Pioneering Flutter, ReactNative, Java, and Swift projects, he published 18 apps with 75,000-plus downloads in 2,000 cities.

From developing his first “Hello World” program to creating email authentication loops, Pai attributes his knowledge to his mentors, and he wanted to give back.

He came across the Shooting Stars Foundation, a nonprofit that runs educational programs and donates the money raised to students in Third-World countries seeking a college education.

Connecting with the founder of the organization, he planned a one-week entrepreneurship summer camp for students in grades eight to 12. Organizing job shadows and guest speakers from Fortune 500 companies and local tech startups, he learned how to develop relationships at companies no matter the size.

Throughout the week, he held workshops on the elements of a business, incorporation information, prototyping and how to develop a professional business plan and pitch. At the end of the week, students pitched their businesses to a panel of investors Pai organized.

As he started getting into app development, Pai wanted to run a similar program that taught students how to make their own apps. He worked with the Shooting Stars Foundation to market a virtual app development program, called App Academy. Running this program twice, it has become a nationwide initiative for the Shootings Stars Foundation.

NSHSS is the premier international honors and scholarship program co-founded by Claes Nobel and James Lewis. It pairs the highest-performing students worldwide with high school and college scholarships, events, connections, internships and career opportunities that begin in high school and carry on through college and careers.