Audrey Zhang, an 11-year-old from Long Island, New York, won this year’s Doodle 4 Google Competition with her “Back to Mother Nature” Google Doodle.

Audrey Zhang Wins Google Doodle Challenge

Zhang was one of thousands of American kids who participated in the Doodle challenge to draw something with the theme “If I could invent one thing to make the world a better place.” For Zhang, that invention was a “transformative water purifier," reported NBC News.

The middle school student was inspired to make a water purifier after learning that clean water is a scarce commodity in many parts of the world. “I came up with this design when I learned that not everyone has clean water,” she said in a video posted by Google. “My invention can clean water at a very fast pace.”

Zhang was one of the 50 state winners who got the chance to take a trip to Google’s HQ in Moutain View, Calif. There, she received a new computer, tablet and a T-shirt featuring her drawing. For winning first prize, Zhang received a $30,000 college scholarship, a $50,000 technology grant for her middle school and her Doodle featured on Google’s homepage for a day.

Unlike in past years, Google decided to work with the young artist to animate her drawing. “We quickly lost count of all the delightful elements of Audrey’s doodle,” Google said. “So in the spirit of this year’s theme, we asked Audrey to spend a day with the doodlers to turn her illustration into a moving animation.”

In honor of the theme of Zhang’s Doodle, Google is donating $40,000 in her name to a charity providing schools in Bangladesh with clean water.

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Article by Chelsea Regan

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