TNJSF JEI Award Winner: Samhita Pokkunuri

Samhita Pokkunuri is a rising High School junior from Matawan, New Jersey. She self-describes “as a passionate robotics enthusiast” and this passion and enthusiasm lead her to listen to the Voices from DARPA podcast. DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) is a research and development agency that operates within the US Department of Defense. One particular podcast episode on vertical take-off and flight aircraft piqued Samhita’s interest and kickstarted her winning project on autonomous unmanned aircraft (UAV) executing vertical takeoffs. She was able to develop a novel UAV that could take off with heavier pay loads while having decreased power needs and increased flight time.

One of Samhita’s biggest challenges was recording all the data on each prototype she made in both indoor and outdoor environments. While tiresome, this level of dedication and stringent data collection ensured she could confidently make conclusions about each prototype built and tested. Samhita was excited when she was able to see all her hard work pay off in terms of her UAV prototype stability and endurance. She is looking forward to seeing what the long-term impact of her research will be.

When asked about the impact participating and presenting at TNJSF had on her, Samhita said “The fair provided an excellent platform for networking, allowing me to engage in meaningful conversations with peers and gain insights into other fields of research such as bioinformatics and animal sciences. This year’s event was particularly significant for me, as it broadened my understanding of the vast array of STEM fields and the intellectual stimulation they offer.” She also noted how she needed to adjust the language she used to talk about her project depending on the knowledge-base of the other person(s) she was talking to. This is something she identified as a valuable skill as she progresses to even higher-level research/work.

Congrats to Samhita and her success at TNJSF - we can’t wait to see what she does next!

The material on this page was prepared by Kari Mattison, JEI co-Editor in Chief. Samhita Pokkunuri provided the photo and answers to standard questions which was edited lightly for clarity.