Prof. Debashis Sahoo is one of 21 semi-finalists in the $1 million Anu & Naveen Jain Women’s Safety XPRIZE, which challenges competitors around the world to develop technological solutions to improve women’s safety in instances of violence or harassment. According to the competition rules, the winning device must be able to autonomously and inconspicuously trigger an emergency alert and transmit information to a network of community responders—all within 90 seconds and a cost of $40 or less. Sahoo and Pandey submitted a proposal for a wireless communication device they call Shanvi, a Hindi name for Parvati, the goddess of fertility, love, devotion, divine strength and power. Powered by body movements, Shanvi is always charged and doesn’t require batteries. The device is designed to be worn discreetly near the ear, as an earplug or earring. If Shanvi senses a specific change in a woman’s breathing pattern, it immediately alerts a smartphone app that can be used by anyone in the woman’s life—family member, friend or anyone willing to be part of her response network. He received his MS and PhD in Electrical Engineering at Stanford University, and BTech in Computer Science and Engineering at IIT-Kharagpur. He is currently working as an assistant professor in the division of Genome Information Sciences within the Department of Pediatrics at UC San Diego. He also holds an affiliated faculty position in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, and in the Bioinformatics and Systems Biology graduate program at UC San Diego.