Curiosity to Pursue Engineering

Industrial / Manufacturing

Adaptable, diligent, and dynamic high school student (3.6 GPA) with special interest in manufacturing integration, productivity improvement, and product development. Aspiring to pursue Industrial / Manufacturing Engineering in Undergraduate program and to fulfill an ambition of developing low-cost solutions to address socio-economic problems in under-developed and developing countries.

Biography

Bio

I was born in Atlanta, USA with profound hearing loss. I am the only child to my parents, who originally hail from India and migrated to USA in 1998 for work.

Disability

I do use hearing aids and learned American Sign Language (ASL) which is my primary communication. Being DHH (Deaf and Hard of Hearing) student, I do get interpreter accommodations at school.

Schooling

I started my education at Berkmar cluster in Gwinnett County, Atlanta area.

Rebecca Minor Elementary School – Kindergarten to 5th Grade

Berkmar Middle School – 6th Grade to 8th Grade

Berkmar High School – 9th Grade to 12th Grade

Gwinnett Online Campus (Accelerated Summer courses between 10th & 11th Grade)

Maxwell High School of Technology (12th Grade College Prep - Manufacturing Cluster)

Course Work

BERKMAR HIGH SCHOOL

Flight Operations(taking)

AP Computer Science Advanced

Foundations of Eng./Tech

Engineering Concepts

Introduction to Health Sciences

A/V Tech/Film I

AP Calc AB

Spanish II HON

MAXWELL SCHOOL OF TECHNOLOGY

Foundations of Manufacturing/Material Systems

Robotics

Advanced AC/DC Circuits

Production Enterprises

Additional Skills

COMPUTER

Proficient in Microsoft Office

Experienced in using Google Suite

LANGUAGE

American Sign Language (ASL): Proficient

Spanish: Basic Communication Skills

National Society of High School Scholars

January 7, 2022

Dear Srikar,

Congratulations! Based on your outstanding academic achievement at Berkmar High School, you have been selected to receive scholarship information from the National Society of High School Scholars (NSHSS). Your hard work has placed you among a select group of students and has earned you this opportunity to join other outstanding high school scholars in recognition of your dedication to excellence.

Sincerely,
Karen Kane (Scholarship Director)

View Full Invitation

Formative days

Learning Challenges

Learning & social environment challenges

Hearing and learning are interconnected, however, intelligence is certainly not a concern. Just because I have hearing loss doesn’t mean I am any less capable. Sometimes the classroom environment itself had barriers to learning. Some teachers were unable to alter their teaching style to accommodate me. Also, certain subjects were intrinsically more difficult to grasp for a child with hearing loss. For example, I could crack the math with straight forward equations, but if the same question is explained in plain English, I would struggle to due to the language barrier. In addition, there are social barriers I had to deal with, including social interactions and the bullying.

Mindset shift

Profound hearing loss impacts development of speech and language, a challenge I had to accept as I was growing up. And I had to reflect on how I would overcome this. I realized that the first thing I should do was to change my mindset. Overcoming may mean that I come to terms with my disability and that I do everything I can to live life to the fullest within the constraints of my circumstances rather than getting bogged down.

Once I started realizing the challenges in my life, I started looking for solutions. Mastering the American Sign Language was my first success that helped me to interact with teachers and peers with the support of accommodations.

Extra-curriculars

Technology Student Association

Future Business Leaders of America

Beta Club

To improve my communication

Baseball League

To interact with players from different parts of the city

Learning Piano

Taking piano lessons as a potential career alternative

Maxwell High School of Technology

Taking the courses like FOUNDATIONS MANUFAC/MATERIALS SYSTEMS, ROBOTICS, ADVANCED AC/DC CIRCUITS, PRODUCTION ENTERPRISES with real life equipment

Berkmar High School

Took the electives like Engineering/Technical Concepts, Flight Operations

At Berkmar High School, I took the electives like Engineering/Technical Concepts, Flight Operations etc.. At the end of the 11th Grade, my school nominated me to Maxwell School of Technology (Link) in the Manufacturing cluster (Link) to pursue my ambitions in Manufacturing in practice.

At Maxwell, I am taking the courses like FOUNDATIONS MANUFAC/MATERIALS SYSTEMS, ROBOTICS, ADVANCED AC/DC CIRCUITS, PRODUCTION ENTERPRISES with real life equipment.

Volunteer Experience

Hindu Community Center Inc.

Hindu temples celebrate during auspicious festivals and parading the idols of the Hindu God in a chariot is a common aspect of the celebration. Part of giving to the community as a volunteer, I worked with few other volunteers in the guidance of the temple management to construct such Chariot for the Hindu Community Center.

Service Date(s): 8/27/2021 to 9/19/2021

Activity: Chariot construction

Total Hours: 40

Observations in daily life

I wake up every morning to a bed-shaker linked alarm clock and go about my morning routine using several products like a toothbrush, soap, toaster, refrigerator - things that are ubiquitous.

Click on the wheel to see

World Tour

When I was in my 9th Grade my dad surprised me with a a trip around the globe. Starting from Atlanta, USA we went to Hawaii, USA > Singapore > Kaula Lampur, Malaysia > India > Dubai, finally returning to Atlanta via Amsterdam. I had an amazing time In and gathered wonderful memories from the time I spent at each of these locations
After returning home and taking a breather, it dawned on me how crazy our trip was, literally we went around the world – full circle.
However, during his trip, I realized how some of the developing & underdeveloped countries were still striving for basic needs in day to day life from having clean water to basic sanitation to good food and more importantly a place to live. That prompted me to do some research on the socio-economical situation in developing and under-developed countries.

USA

Atlanta, USA Hawaii, USA

Singapore

USA Singapore Kaula Lampur, Malaysia

India

Malaysia India

Dubai

India Dubai Atlanta

Research on Developing & Under-developed countries

Research

These are just some of the situations we are seeing and there are many more such kind of requirements around the world in developing and under developed countries.

Villages in India are facing an acute shortage of water for households and agriculture activities with farmers bearing the brunt during cropping season. One-fifth of the world’s population lives in a community where water is scarce, and the United Nations predicts that half of the world will be living with water scarcity by 2050.
The sad truth is that there is enough water on the Earth for all of its inhabitants, but unequal distribution stops many populations from having easy access to water.

Shortage of water for households

Philanthropists and entrepreneurs are creating new solutions to revolutionize the way water is accessed in impoverished communities across the globe.
Millions of tons of sludge and fecal matter are dredged from open-air pits, which leads to a substantial health hazard for communities without the means to safely dispose of this waste. In fact, according to UNICEF, poor sanitation in India is partially responsible for the stunting of more than 65 million children. More Info

The Hippo Water Roller

The world’s first electronic solar public eToilet has been put up in Thiruvananthapuram, in Kerala. It generates power as well as fertilizer from the waste. The toilets have been set up in Pulluvila, a village in the Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala. The village boasts of having the world’s first e-toilet, which utilizes technology to turn waste into fertilizer, generate power, and even produce potable water. The innovative agency behind the initiative is Eram Scientific Solutions, a Thiruvananthapuram-based Company. More Info

Electronic solar public eToilet

How do I get There

Ambitions

While the curiosity in deconstructing products of daily use planted a seed in my mind to pursue Industrial/Manufacturing Engineering, the awareness I developed of the socio-economic problems around the world propelled me to think about low-cost solutions to address these problems. My real life experiences overcoming my disability not only made me stronger and focused, they also brought clarity to my path forward.

The Path Ahead

My goal is to engineer products for day-to-day use that address socio-economic problems.
However, to get to my goal I need to join a college that can provide me the platform to succeed.
To get there, the first milestone to cross is ACT/SAT tests which are heavily dependent on English.

For a DHH student with profound hearing difficulty, reading and writing English is a challenge. Even though I have a weighted GPA of 3.659 thus far, the scores in ACT/SAT will be not attractive for me as they are heavily English dependent.

I do have plans to work with ACT and SAT organizations to provide equal platform for people with disabilities like me.

Pursuing studies at an esteemed college that is well recognised for Industrial Engineering/Manufacturing will help me achieve my ambition.

“A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles” - Christopher Reeve.
I want to make a positive contribution to the world, and can confidently say that my hearing impairment is no longer an obstacle.