California Siblings Build AI-Powered Lab App During South Dakota Mines Internship

Siblings Anagha and Ishaan Ashok of Fremont, Calif., spent their summer at South Dakota Mines enhancing research efficiency by developing ProTrack, an AI-driven app for lab management and inventory tracking.

Anagha, a rising high school senior, and Ishaan, a rising sophomore, worked under Tanvi Govil, Ph.D., and Rajesh Sani, Ph.D., faculty in the Karen M. Swindler Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and Mines doctoral students to design, code and test the app.

This is Anagha’s second summer at Mines. Last summer, she worked with Govil and Sani to isolate more than 100 bacterial cultures from vermicompost samples. Her firsthand experience last year with manual data recording sparked a new idea – a digital tool to simplify lab workflows. She returned this summer with her brother to turn that idea into reality.

The goal of ProTrack is to digitize laboratory operations, enhance collaboration and leverage AI for insights by:

• Project and task assignment with daily logs
• Real-time inventory management of equipment and chemicals
• Equipment booking to avoid scheduling conflicts, and
• AI-assisted generation of daily, weekly and final project reports.

Despite having challenges, Anagha and Ishaan created a working prototype and a clear roadmap for future development, aiming to expand ProTrack’s reach to labs beyond Mines.

“This internship was not just a project for me - it was the chance to turn an idea into something real,” said Anagha. “Seeing ProTrack grow from a concept to a working tool showed me how observation and creativity can lead to meaningful solutions that improve how research is done.”

Ishaan added, “Working at Mines gave me the chance to learn from real researchers and apply coding to solve lab challenges. It was exciting to see how my contributions fit into a larger project that can help scientists work more efficiently.”

Anagha also joined the university’s NSF EPSCoR RII Bioplastics with Regenerative Agriculture Properties (BioWrap) project which focuses on biodegradable coatings for agriculture. During the project meeting at Havelock Farm in Nebraska, Anagha saw the field application of the coating developed by the Mines team.

Anagha also presented ProTrack during the annual NSF EPSCoR RII BioWrap Conference at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

“Her talk on the app’s development and impact generated strong interest and conversations on how digital tools can enhance lab efficiency and collaboration,” Govil said.

Beyond ProTrack, Anagha also runs Currentech, a media platform featuring articles and podcasts that explain emerging technologies to the public. Through interviews with experts, including Govil, she highlights how STEM professionals’ impact both research and local communities, inspiring the next generation of scientists.

“The Ashok siblings’ work this summer reflects Mines commitment to hands-on, interdisciplinary learning and real-world problem-solving,” Sani said.

Through innovative tools like ProTrack and participation in cutting-edge research like BioWrap, Anagha and Ishaan exemplify the kind of forward-thinking, impact-driven students shaping the future of STEM.