Sreya Vangara

About Me

I am a double major in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and Mechanical Engineering at MIT. I am interested in developing novel energy systems for underpriviledged communities. I am a 2023 Schwarzman Scholar, and will spend the next year in Tsinghua University, developing technology and policy relations between the U.S. and China towards expanding worldwide access to clean nuclear energy.

Interests

• Energy Systems
• Product Design
• Space Technology
• Assistive Technology
• Optimization
• Machine Learning
• Data Science
• Graph Theory

Honors and Awards

• Schwarzman Scholar (2021)
• Rhodes Scholarship Finalist (2021)
• First Place Undergrad Presentation, MIT Mechanical Engineering Research Exhibition (2021)
• HackMIT NeuroDivergent Inclusion Sponsor Award (2021)
• Most Innovative Design, Micro/Nano Processing Technology, MIT.nano (2021)
• Mask Up! - MakeMIT Overall First Place Award (2021)
• MIT Engineering, EECS, MechE Honor Societies (2020)
• MakeMIT Infosys Most Innovative Hack (2020)
• Northern Telecom/BNR Undergraduate Laboratory Award (2020)
• HackMIT DocuSign Sponsor Award (2019)
• HackMIT Best Impossible Hack (2018)
• U.S. Presidential Scholar (2018)
• Regeneron Semifinalist (2018)
• National Merit Scholar (2018)
• NASA Goddard Achievement in Computer Science/IT (2016)

Publications and Presentations

• Research Papers
• Roxworthy, B. J., Vangara, S., & Aksyuk, V. A. (2018). Subdiffraction spatial mapping of nanomechanical modes using a plasmomechanical system. ACS photonics, 5(9), 3658-3665.
• Patents
• Currency sorting mechanisms and methods, Patent #US10672213B2
• Press
• "Six MIT students named 2023 Schwarzman Scholars", MIT News
• "The Lab in the living room", Department of Energy
• "Addressing academic inequity at MIT through grade transparency", The Tech
• "At home with fusion research", MIT News
• "Poolesville High School students developing wallet for blind", WJLA
• "These Local Programs Are Convincing Girls That Cybersecurity Isn’t Just For Boys", WAMU

Service and Activism

• Executive Board Member of Synapse National
• Nonprofit organization dedicated to building support communities for individuals with brain injury
• MIT Tau Beta Pi, Community Service Officer
• Lead the 20-student community service committee to host events for the undergraduate engineering student body
• MIT UA Committee on Community Service Admin-Facing Lead
• Increase community service participation amongst undergrads by incorporating service into curricula with faculty
• MIT Medical Board Elected Undergraduate Representative
• Advocate on behalf of students with physical disabilities and mental illness
• Executive Director of MIT Women's Initiative
• Organize STEM seminars across the country to inspire and support young girls
• Founder and Director of Girls in Engineering
• Awarded $6.5k grant from U.S. senator Chris Van Hollen to create a project-based engineering class for middle-school girls interested in STEM
• Cofounder and Director of Girls Just Want To Compute!
• Organizer and teacher of school-year and summer boot-camp programming courses to elementary through high-school girls interested in computer science

Student Groups

• MIT Pistol Team
• Publicity, Alumni, and Social Chair
• Orientation Leader and Associate Advisor
• MIT UA Committee on Education
• MIT UA Committee on Health and Wellness
• MIT EnergyHack
• Internal Sponsorship Director, Communications Consultant
• MIT Delta Phi Epsilon
• New Member Education Coordinator
• MIT StartLabs
• MIT DanceTroupe
• MIT Intramural Volleyball

Hobbies

Radio production, Baking, Hiking, Crossword making, Playing the ukelele terribly