TEEN’S QR CODE EMERGENCY TOOL WINS TECHNOVATION GRAND PRIZE
A friend fainted at school, and nobody nearby knew the friend’s medical details or whom to call. Aanya Mansani’s answer is Emergen, a QR code anyone can scan.
Mansani, a 15-year-old high school student in Texas, saw Emergen win the junior-division grand prize at the Technovation World Summit in Bengaluru, India, on October 8, 2026. Boeing and Technovation said the winning entry came from the United States and was among 15 finalist teams from 13 countries.
“That experience made me realize that during emergencies, the problem isn’t always a lack of willingness to help, but a lack of accessible information,” Mansani told Good Good Good.
A bystander scans the code with a smartphone and sees allergies, medications, medical conditions and trusted contacts. “No app download or login is required,” she said.
The codes can go on a student ID badge, a bookbag or a phone case. Mansani said that could matter for younger students who don’t have phones, or can’t get to them during the school day.
Privacy was the tricky part. “One of Emergen’s key innovations is its tiered-access approach to privacy,” she said. Bystanders see only the essentials, and a more detailed level for verified medical professionals was being developed and tested. A masked-calling feature lets a bystander reach an emergency contact without ever seeing the person’s phone number.
She tuned the design with input from family, classmates, teachers, her school nurse and a Battalion Fire Chief with Frisco Fire Department EMS. That feedback, she said, “helped ensure the solution addressed real emergency needs.”
Changemakers lists Emergen as a pilot-stage project. In testing with 30 people, getting to emergency information took under five seconds, compared with roughly 45 seconds through a locked phone. Mansani also planned an opt-in pilot with families in her Frisco school community.
“Winning [this prize] was an incredible milestone, but my larger goal is to bring Emergen into schools and communities, helping people feel more prepared to respond during emergencies,” she said.
