Akshaj Khetarpal ’29

Hours away from home on a family road trip to Himachal Pradesh, India, then-ninth grader Akshaj Khetarpal noticed a lush, green lining tracing rocks and trees across the terrain. 

With his mother’s smartphone in hand, he quickly identified the growth as moss. That discovery sparked the idea for Moss-X, a prototype system designed to improve air quality using moss. 

“I researched moss and I found out that it can clean air efficiently,” said Khetarpal, now a 19-year-old freshman informatics major at the Manning College of Information and Computer Sciences (CICS). “I thought, ‘Why not use it in a project that brings together multiple domains of knowledge?’”  

Several years after his trip, Moss-X has evolved from an early idea into a prototype. Khetarpal holds a patent granted in India in 2024 covering both the system’s design and integrated technology, and he is now focused on pursuing patents in other countries while bringing his invention to market. 

At Manning CICS, Khetarpal says he has gained new skills and resources that, along with support from faculty, are helping him refine the project—from concepts he's learning in his informatics courses to hands-on work with 3D printers in the Physical Computing Makerspace. 

“My focus has always been to be a polymath—to understand different areas of knowledge,” Khetarpal said. “Informatics does the same because it’s an interconnection of multiple fields. Manning has given me skills I can apply directly to developing Moss-X.” 

Designing the Prototype 

At its core, Moss-X uses moss sandwiched between two acrylic sheets measuring one square meter. Microcontrollers, humidity sensors, air quality sensors, and automated water systems maintain the environment needed for the moss to survive and enable biological filtration. 

“In using all of these different parts, I’ve created a single product that can maintain moss so it can thrive,” he said. 

Designed for indoor use, Moss-X draws inspiration from larger outdoor installations such as CityTree in London, which similarly uses moss to absorb pollutants at levels reported by Forbes to be comparable to 275 trees. 

For Khetarpal, practicality alone isn’t enough—the product also needs to be visually appealing. That’s why he’s developing a system that would allow customers to create bespoke designs, so Moss-X units could be placed on walls, ceilings, or in corners. 

“Think of it like a user-designed terrarium,” he said. “It’s not going to be just a piece of plastic.” 

While Moss-X is currently a prototype, Khetarpal and his three-person team are preparing to launch the plant delivery website and exploring manufacturing options. He has already spoken to nurseries and greenhouses in India about sourcing moss and is considering a subscription-based maintenance service for customers. 

Beyond design and logistics, Khetarpal sees Moss-X as a way to address a global challenge. He points to poor air quality in his home country of India, where 1.4 billion residents are exposed to unhealthy levels of the most harmful pollutant, according to the World Bank.  

"I want to give people the basic right that they deserve, which is to breathe clean air,” Khetarpal said. 

Empowered by Manning CICS 

Moss-X brings together biology, computing, and business, and Khetarpal says his informatics education is helping him bridge those areas.  

“Manning has taught me how to collect environmental data and how to make automated systems, and that is directly related to Moss-X,” he said. “It’s helped me go further into building it.” 

Khetarpal specifically credits his “INFO 150: A Mathematical Foundation for Informatics” instructor, Professor David A. Mix Barrington, for shaping his thinking as he worked on the project. 

“His introduction to discrete mathematics challenged me intellectually and pushed me to expand my problem-solving approach,” Khetarpal said. “Beyond the rigor, what stood out was how he connected theoretical concepts to real-world applications, which directly influenced how I approached this work.” 

He’s also utilizing the Physical Computing Makerspace to finalize his prototype, creating modules with the space’s 3D printers and adapting the system’s microcontrollers. 

“The Makerspace is a really nice place to just focus on a hands-on project,” he said. 

Khetarpal encourages any Manning CICS student with entrepreneurial ambitions to follow their passions and create without fear of failure.  

“If you start with something and if you really believe in it, it generally succeeds,” he said. “If you keep on waiting, it’s going to be someone else’s invention or someone else’s project soon. It’s your own mind, your own creativity—it’s a once in a lifetime chance for you to start creating it, so it's your responsibility to go with it.”