Young Tinker Foundation
Helping solve real problems through technology and skill-consciousness.
Young Tinker Foundation is a non-profit that builds skill-consciousness and hands-on problem solving. What began in a riverine island village in India now runs Young TinkerSpaces, Tinker on Wheels labs, teacher training and Young Tinker Clubs, and has reached 432,000 students across the globe.
A Young Tinker is a person with open, out-of-the-box thinking, someone who thinks young, and a tinker is a problem solver.
What we do
Three programmes carry our work to schools, colleges and communities. The schools that Tinker on Wheels and TinkerSpace reach go on to start their own Young Tinker Club.
Young Tinker Club
A global community of doers: school, campus and community clubs that build and solve problems where they live.
Young TinkerSpace
We help schools, colleges and institutions set up and run their own makerspace.
Tinker on Wheels
A mobile lab with AI, IoT, coding and 3D printing that brings hands-on STEM to schools.
We also run Teachers of Practice TinkerFest Fellowship Theversity
Latest updates
Our students’ achievements, awards and news from the field.
From a riverine island village to winning at NASA
Each year the NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge invites student teams from around the world to design and build a rover. In 2021 our team won World Rank 3 in the high school division, the first under-19 team from India to do so.
In 2023, six students from cities, remote villages and children’s homes travelled to Huntsville, Alabama, and won the Social Media Award.
Stories of change
Students from ordinary villages who learned to build, and grew in confidence along the way.
Rina Bagha
Boudh district, Odisha. Took up welding during the lockdown and joined our NASA rover team.
Basudeba Bhoi
Son of a farm labourer, now a 3D printing specialist and prototype lead for NASA 2023.
Sai Akshara Vemuri
Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh. Now studying mechanical engineering at Georgia Tech.
What people say
From ministers, partners and the schools we work with.
Awards and recognition
We thank our team, mentors, supporters and well-wishers for helping us earn these.
Watch
Documentaries and news features about Young Tinker.
Our impact story in Badlav Humse Hai, Network18
The Indian teens who impressed NASA, Brut India
Empowering the youth, StartUp Central on ET Now
Students representing India at NASA Rover Challenge 2023, CNN-News18
Young tinkers on their journey to NASA, The New Indian Express
Winner at Falling Walls Engage 2022, Berlin Science Week
Our partners
Thank you to every partner who believes in our work and supports our journey.
Government partners and associations
Join the global movement
Young Tinker Clubs now meet in schools, colleges and communities across India and the United States, alongside our Tinker on Wheels routes, TinkerSpaces and Teachers of Practice. Every pin on the globe is a place where people are building and solving problems together.
Find the club nearest to you, or start the first one where you live.
Drag to spin the globe.
Young Tinker ClubTinker on WheelsYoung TinkerSpaceTeachers of Practice
Join a club
Find a Young Tinker Club near you, or start one at your school, campus or workplace.
Work with us
Fellowships and jobs at the grassroots, working with students and communities.
Partner with us
Fund a Tinker on Wheels, support a group of clubs or bring a programme to your region.
Donate
Your gift puts tools and mentors within reach of students who have never had them.