Roopam Sharma
Roopam Sharma, is an Indian scientist. He is best known for his work on Manovue, a technology which enables the visually impaired to read printed text. His research interests include Wearable Computing, Mobile Application Development, Human Centered Design, Computer Vision, AI and Cognitive Science. Roopam was recently awarded the Gifted Citizen Prize 2016 and has been listed as one of the top 8 Innovators Under 35 by the MIT Technology Review for the year 2016 in India. Roopam believes that people with passion can change the world for the better. In 2018, he was honoured as part of Asia's 21 Young Leaders Initiative in Manila.
Early life, education and research
Roopam was born on May 24, 1995 in Faridabad, Haryana, India to Nirmal and Krishna Dutt Sharma. He has a brother Rahul and a sister Priyanka. Roopam comes from a very humble, middle-class family. He is an alumnus of Ryan International School, Faridabad and Modern Vidya Niketan, Faridabad and went on to study Bachelors of Technology in Computer Science and Engineering at Manav Rachna University in Faridabad, Haryana. It wasn’t out of any of his creative desires that he chose Engineering. He and his parents thought that engineering was one career where he would not starve. Roopam began his research and innovation journey during his sophomore year of undergraduate school at Manav Rachna University with a belief that students who worked in research and development in college got better job opportunities but destiny had other plans for him. Roopam's contributions to the society proves that he innovates for the betterment of the society.Inventions
Roopam's project Manovue, developed by Eyeluminati, which is the world's first intelligent personal assisting system for the visually impaired. It's an inexpensive technology that does 3 main things:- It enables the user to read printed text by simply pointing over the text.
- It helps them to navigate freely outside well known environment through haptic feedback.
- It comes with a completely voice controlled mobile phone application and enables the user to use his phone only through his voice.
Awards and achievements
Roopam was recently awarded the Gifted Citizen Prize 2016. Each year the Gifted Citizen Prize is given to the best social entrepreneurship project that has the ability to benefit 10 million people over the next six years. This international prize honors the passions of those that seek to develop real solutions to humanity's most pressing issues. He has also been listed as an innovator under 35 in 2016 by the Technology Review. Each year Technology Review discovers and presents new generations of Innovators Under 35, the young leaders developing hard technologies to solve the major global challenges of today in remarkably different ways and impacting the lives of millions of people around the globe. Roopam was also named as a judge for the Living Talent Masterpiece 2017 and Accenture Innovation Jockeys Season 6.The following is the list of notable awards and achievements received:
| Year | Name | Awarding organisation |
| 2017 | National Youth Award | Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports |
| 2016 | SE100 Inspiring Social Enablers List | SE100 Inspiring Social Enablers Programme |
| 2016 | Nominet Trust 100 List | Social Tech Guide By Nominet Trust |
| 2016 | Gifted Citizen Prize 2016 | Ciudad de las Ideas |
| 2016 | MIT Technology Review Innovators Under 35 | Technology Review |
| 2016 | Infymakers Award | Infosys |
| 2016 | Presidents Award | Manav Rachna University |
| 2015 | Winner: Microsoft YouthSpark Challenge for Change | Microsoft |
| 2015 | Grand Winner: Microsoft Imagine Cup India | Microsoft |
| 2016 | Torchbearer Award | Manav Rachna College of Engineering, Faridabad |
| 2016 | Yahoo Accenture Innovation Jockeys Season 5 | Yahoo Accenture |
| 2015 | Yahoo Accenture Innovation Jockeys Season 4 | Yahoo Accenture |
| 2014 | Yahoo Accenture Innovation Jockeys Season 3 | Yahoo Accenture |