Random curiosities (with Arush Shangari)

Arush Shangari, a 17-year-old rising senior at St. John’s Prep, created Project IRIS—an AI-powered tool designed to predict flooding and assist communities with disaster response. He is now working to expand the system throughout the US. His teacher, Daniel Poche, captured what makes Arush’s achievements especially impressive: “He has amazing ideas. It’s one thing to have amazing ideas—a lot of students do. It’s another thing to have the grit to put in the time, pursue those ideas, and believe in oneself enough to make them a reality.”