by Ani Janakiraman ’26
Each different graduating class at Bellarmine possesses something unique, where that be a variety of distinct talents, different aspirations, or goals in their lives. This is the first edition of “Humans of Bell”, where we’ll be interviewing and highlighting some of Bellarmine’s special talents and individuals. This week’s edition is dedicated to Harshil Ahuja, a senior in the class of 2024, who seems to have already created a path to success for himself in engineering. In 2021, Ahuja created “Novarus Technologies”, a company focused on creating products such as masks and water filters meant to specifically protect people from factors like pollution. We discovered more about his company and his process and hoped to share the inspiring story with the Bellarmine community.
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Harshil Ahuja ‘24 – Founder and CEO of Novarus Tech
Q: What motivated you to start this company so quickly?
A: “Patience isn’t quite my thing, as I like to move through things quite quickly and address the problems. I always think about moving forward along the way.”
Q: What has helped you specifically with engineering and how have you learned some of these important skills?
A: “In middle school and into high school, I spent more and more time on robotics, learning more about engineering in the process. Also, I learned a lot through a significant amount of research.”
Q: That’s great. What inspired and motivated you to address these problems and start Novarus Tech?
A: “When I was on a family trip to India in 2019, I saw truly how terrible the pollution and water crises were. I was inspired to help those who needed it the most and I started to work using a 3-D printer for my first prototype.”
Q: How did the mask prototype improve throughout your design and process?
A: “At first, the mask was way too long and not visually appealing either. However, after various revisions, I ended up finding a sleek prototype that was not only effective but more visually pleasant with necessary filters.”
Q: And nearing the end, what was the process like of starting your very own company?
A: “I did tons of research to find the proper manufacturers that were credible and were doing the processes in an ethical manner. This was a quite complex process that I had to work out. At the end of the day, I believe that starting Novarus provided me with a good opportunity to help the world and support a cause through engineering.”
Q: Where are these products such as the water filtration system and mask being sold?
A: “They are now being sold world-wide.”
Q: Wow, that’s nice to know! Do you plan to continue Novarus Tech past high school?
A: “Absolutely. I think I’m going to be seeking improvements and focusing on it for a very long time and I honestly hope to take it as far as I possibly can.”
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That will wrap it up folks! Harshil exemplifies what Bellarmine is all about and how we take initiative to solve pressing issues through unique skills. Hopefully, he inspires some of you to “take the jump” and go after what some of your goals may be. If you want the Bell Online to feature you in the Humans of Bell section or want to recommend us someone to cover, reach out to ani.janakiraman26@bcp.org.