Career Chat: Building a STEM Games Company

After she completed her graduate studies in neuroscience from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in 2019, Poorti Kathpalia knew she wanted to support science education initiatives in the country. Becoming a teacher was an option, but Kathpalia had other ideas.

“I could see that there are certain things which as a science communicator I can do, which are not possible by being a teacher, because you have to then go by the rules and regulations and the various guidelines that exist,” recalled Kathpalia.

This prompted her to explore a career in science communication and outreach at the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology. During her tenure, she would experiment with creative ways to engage and interact with children to communicate science, including developing kits for kids to use to isolate DNA.¹ Realizing her passion for bringing playful science communication initiatives into homes and classrooms, Kathpalia quit her job and set out on an unconventional endeavor.

Soon after, Kathpalia launched a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) games company called Vigyan Vyanjan with the goal of entertaining and educating children and young science students. With this initiative, she hopes that translating complex scientific ideas into hands-on experiences through storytelling and play can help kids foster a liking for science and encourage them to stay curious.

From Lab Bench to Business Administration

At the moment, Kathpalia has developed a genetics-focused card game called The Gene Game, which teaches students the basics of molecular biology and genetics.

But dabbling in such an unconventional form of science communication was neither straightforward, nor easy. While struggling to fill out a bill for a customer, Kathpalia realized she did not know much about running a business. “During PhD, my PI would ask me…to make purchase orders,” recalled Kathpalia. “I felt, ‘Oh my god, I should have paid more attention when I was processing [those] bills.’”

However, some learnings from academia, both from the days of her graduate studies and science outreach job, came in handy. “The whole training of PhD, and the things which I had been doing, like organizing events, planning creative ways to teach something, and also talking to students [helped me],” she said.

Figuring out how to run a business was just one aspect. The financial uncertainty, coupled with several people telling her that physical science-themed games may not do well in the era of video games, weighed on her.

Despite this, she took a leap of faith.

STEM Games Can Lay the Foundation of Scientific Curiosity

When she started Vigyan Vyanjan, Kathpalia did not have a team, making it difficult to brainstorm ideas. She eventually hired an intern who helped her develop their first game. The sleepless nights she had spent seemed worth it when she first saw the physical form of the card game.

“When I got those games, seeing them in printed form in my hand, that was very exciting for me,” said Kathpalia. It was even more validating when people started appreciating and ordering the game, she added.

Through this initiative, Kathpalia hopes she can show young students that science need not be intimidating. With a few more games in the pipeline, she wishes to light the initial spark of excitement toward science in children.

“We can get so excited in that age, like some [question] gets to us, and we have to find an answer to that,” said Kathpalia. “If something like that happens, if kids get interested [and] they go into research and actually find something meaningful, that would be the best thing to happen.”