Meet Tiya Aggarwal, the Canadian high school student who built a smart irrigation system that automatically adjusts for more than 150 plant species.

Tiya Aggarwal, a Canadian high school student, has developed a smart irrigation system designed to care for more than 150 plant species. He won first prize in a provincial entrepreneurship competition.Tia, a Grade 12 student at Burnaby South Secondary in British Columbia, pitched her idea, Aquora150, at the eighth annual Discover Your Pitch provincial finals in May of this year. According to JA British Coulbia, the program gives high school students the opportunity to identify problems, develop solutions and present their ideas to industry leaders. Six teams from across British Columbia made it to the finals.Aquora150 is a smart watering system that uses moisture capture technology to hydrate indoor plants while aiming to reduce water, plastic and glass waste. The system is designed to automatically adjust plant care for more than 150 species. Aggarwal’s idea won the first prize of $3,000 at the event.Ideas spanning several areas were presented during the event, including sustainability, food waste, agriculture, education, productivity and responsible consumer products. After students presented their ideas and answered questions from the judging panel, Aquora150 took the top honor.

How Aquara150 works

Aquora150 was designed around a simple problem that people who grow indoor plants face. Not all plants need the same care. The system is designed for busy, environmentally conscious plant owners and can automatically adjust care for over 150 plant species.Apart from that, it also focuses on waste reduction. Aquora150 can reduce water use and plastic and glass waste related to plant care.

During the event, ideas covering several areas were presented.

For Aggarwal, the experience was about more than developing the Aquora150. He said participating in the program changed the way he viewed his own abilities. Reflecting on the experience, Aggarwal said it “gave me a lot of confidence and how much I believe in myself.”Other finalists also spoke about the personal growth they experienced during the program. Grade 11 student Olivia Colaco, who submitted another finalist idea called CareerCompass, said, “You don’t have to be confident or comfortable to be successful. It’s more important to just stand there and do it.”

Three students take top prizes

While Aquora150 finished first, two other student projects also received awards in the finals. CareerCompass, presented by Colaco of St Johns Academy Shawnigan Lake, won second place and a $1,500 prize. The platform is designed to help young people understand post-secondary pathways or the different educational options available after school.Meanwhile, GroundWork finished third and received $500. The project was presented by tenth grade students Anushka Jain of North Surrey Secondary and Erin Sweeney of McMath Secondary. The students proposed a biodegradable alternative to plastic mulch, aiming to reduce agricultural waste and microplastics while protecting soil health.The two teams also shared another prize. CareerCompass and GroundWork received the $500 Fan Favorite Award after audience voting ended in a tie. It was the first time in Discover Your Pitch history that the Fan Favorite voting resulted in a tie.The event was hosted by JA Alumni BC members Bennett Chiu and Saliha Shajani. The two had previously competed on Discover Your Pitch and returned after their company, Seedlet, won second place at the 2025 Provincial Finals.