The Team
The Team Behind SPARSH
Two twins, one project.
Nysa and Neev Shetye, twins, Grade 5, Aditya Birla World Academy, Mumbai
Nysa Shetye
Age 10, Grade 5
Nysa is the software and research lead of Team SPARSH. She developed the SPARSH Engine — the software that reads the artist's input, smooths their strokes, and scales the drawing three times larger. She also led the team's research and documentation, and ran the co-creation testing sessions with the artists. Outside of SPARSH, Nysa has competed with her twin Neev in international robotics and coding competitions — most recently winning Codeavour 7.0 International in Jakarta. She likes thinking through problems by writing them down and arguing with herself until she finds the answer.
Neev Shetye
Age 10, Grade 5
Neev is the robotics and hardware lead of Team SPARSH. He designed and assembled the robot, building the VISTAAR gantry — the X-Y system that draws the artist's design at three times the size on A2 paper. He handled the mechanical construction, hardware integration and calibration, and the Arduino programming that drives the motion. Outside of SPARSH, Neev has competed with his twin Nysa in international robotics and coding competitions — most recently winning Codeavour 7.0 International in Jakarta. He likes taking things apart to see how they work, then putting them back together better than before.
Track Record
Achievements
Nysa and Neev compete together across international robotics and coding competitions. Their results to date:
- •Codeavour 7.0 International, Jakarta, 2025–26 — 1st place (Team Future Builders, Track 2 Challenge)
- •VEX IQ Nationals, India, 2025 — 4th place (Team Trial & Error)
- •Codeavour 6.0 International, Doha, 2024–25 — 2nd place (Team MS_Neev, Track 2)
- •WRO 2025 — 3rd place at Mumbai Regional, 7th at India Nationals (Team UniPod)
Our WRO Journey
Second Year at WRO
This is our second year at WRO. Last year, we were part of a team that built UniPod — a school-in-a-box for villages without schools nearby. UniPod brought solar power, internet, and learning materials together in one compact unit, so children in remote villages could access a real classroom experience even when no school existed for kilometres.
UniPod placed 3rd at the WRO Mumbai Regional Championship and 7th at the WRO India National Championship out of 150 projects.
The biggest thing we learned from UniPod is something we carried straight into SPARSH: the best robots come from real conversations with the real people who would use them. Last year we visited rural communities. This year we went to IMFPA artists and the Paraplegic Rehabilitation Centre. The lesson is the same — start with the human, then build.
3rd place, WRO 2025 Mumbai Regional
7th place, WRO 2025 India Nationals
Built With Real People
Our Artist Partners
Three artists helped us design SPARSH. Nadeem Shaikh and Bandenawaz Nadaf are foot painting artists in Mumbai, both members of IMFPA. Nadeem was born without arms, and Bandenawaz without his left hand and with limited use of his right arm; both paint with their feet. The Paraplegic Rehabilitation Centre in Pune is home to 117 ex-army residents, many of whom paint as part of healing. We met all three separately, in three different settings, and asked the same questions — and they asked us back for the same things. That is how we knew our design ideas were right: three artists, three settings, the same answer. Every part of SPARSH came from listening to them.
Meet Our Artist PartnersGuidance
Our Mentor
Suraj Tiwari
Our mentor guided us through the build, the coding, and competition preparation. In keeping with the WRO Ethics Code, our mentor demonstrates techniques and helps us when we are stuck — but every part of the project, the wiring, the code, the artist conversations, and the building, was done by us.
Where We Learn
Aditya Birla World Academy, Mumbai
Aditya Birla World Academy is an IB World School in Mumbai, part of the Aditya Birla Education Trust — which also operates The Aditya Birla Integrated School (TABIS) for children with learning challenges, reflecting the group's commitment to inclusive education.
Our school gave us the space, time, and encouragement to pursue this project — from the first idea through countless after-school building sessions to presenting at WRO.