• Brooke Owens Fellow, Class of 2022

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Aerospace Engineering and Computer Science, ‘23

• Host Institution: Venturi Astrolab

• Executive Mentor: Sirisha Bandla

• Brookie Mentor: Sarah Lappin

Akila is a rising senior at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, pursuing a double major in AeroAstro and Computer Science with a minor in Science Writing.

Engineering has fascinated Akila from a young age when she would break things apart so she could observe what was inside and then put it back together (most of the time). This love blossomed through her involvement with FIRST Robotics and Science Olympiad in middle and high school.

Flying was a thrill she got to explore when she received a birthday gift of three introductory flying lessons. The moment she put her hands on the yoke, she was hooked. She quickly worked her way towards a pilot license. Little did she realize that it would excite her to explore a career in the field.

Akila has a deep interest in research and is part of the DINaMo Lab at MIT. She is solving problems that can help scale the use of drones in swarms for continuous data monitoring. She was named a Boeing Undergraduate Research and Innovation Scholar for her work. She plans to complete a 5-year BS/MS program and pursue a PhD.

Akila has served as President of the MIT Flying Club, and a board member of Tech Flight Corporation - a non-profit organization founded by MIT alumni to make flying accessible for college students in the Boston area. She is a 2nd degree black belt in Taekwondo and was elected Vice President of the MIT Sport Taekwondo team. Akila is also part of the MIT Ohms, a South Asian acapella group on campus.

Akila enjoys traveling and adventure sports like whitewater rafting, ziplining, and cliff-diving. In her free time she can be found playing piano or violin, experimenting with photography or trying out healthy vegan alternatives for decadent baked goods.

As a Brooke Owens Fellow, Akila is extremely excited to be working on cutting-edge technology for rovers with Venturi Astrolab during the summer in Hawthorne, CA.