This summer, Prakriti Pradhan from Nepal is one of five community college students nationwide who have been selected for a fellowship through Base 11, a non-profit organization that aims to bridge the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) gap by providing opportunities to talented college and high school students who are part of underrepresented groups in the STEM field.
Prakriti will do her fellowship at the Autonomous Systems Engineering Academy Program through the University of California, Irvine (UCI)’s Henry Samueli School of Engineering. For eight weeks this summer, she will live on the UCI campus and work in teams with graduate and undergraduate UCI engineering and computer science students to learn about designing, building and flying a drone.
Under their mentorship, Prakriti will learn about aerospace design, computer-aided design, 3D printing and basic electronics and fabrication techniques. She will be able to apply this newfound knowledge to mini projects. On top of that, she will also build her knowledge in creating business plans, rapid-prototyping and working in a team to problem-solve.
Prakriti is excited for this opportunity because she will be able to apply the knowledge that she has learned at Skyline College in a practical way and gain lots of practical experience. She is especially thankful to her professor, Maryam Khan, and her academic counselor, Carlos Romero, for encouraging her to apply to this fellowship.
Article and Photo by Clair Yeo-Sugajski
