Hi everyone! My name is Shreya Karnam and I am a first-year mechanical engineering undergraduate student in the Swanson School of Engineering and the Frederick Honors College. I hope to obtain a dual major in mechanical and electrical engineering with a minor in mathematics. I am from Princeton Junction, New Jersey (not actually Princeton, although I live less than 30 minutes from the city), and I can confirm that Jersey bagels are indeed far superior to Pittsburgh bagels (let that be put on the record; sorry, Einstein Bros).

I am a nerd for anything robotics; I was involved with FIRST Robotics throughout middle and high school and I am continuing my robotics journey through Panther Robotics, which is a subteam within the Robotics and Automation Society (RAS) at Pitt. I am truly fascinated by robotic systems; especially with the growing concept of automated and eco-friendly robotics, I have started to develop an interest in learning about sustainable electronics and technology. Apart from robotics, I am also passionate about giving back to my community and am involved in the Pitt Dance Marathon (PDM) on campus through which I had the amazing opportunity to help plan this year’s 10-hour Dance Marathon and contribute to our record-breaking fundraising total of over $400k! Apart from being involved in RAS and PDM, I love to read, write poetry, karaoke, and play volleyball in my free time.

I am excited to embark on our Plus3 program to the Netherlands to explore sustainable practices abroad while also expanding my professional network. My research about the Dutch chemical company Nouryon, paired with my prior internship experience with materials science and learning about the compatability of certain materials, has spiked my eagerness to learn more about how the Netherlands is implementing sustainable technological practices so that I can borrow from those concepts to use in my own future engineering work at Pitt and beyond. I also hope to grow my professional engineering network and broaden my technical skillset. In addition to the academic experience, I am also looking forward to exploring Dutch culture and lifestyle. I am also hoping to visit certain touristy locations in the Netherlands such as the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam and the Nieuwe Instituut in Rotterdam as I am very interested in art and architecture. I hope to discover more about Dutch culture by visiting these (and many more!) museums.

I am already counting down the days until our flight will land in the Netherlands! I want to gain much from this program in terms of professional and social development and hope to make many fun memories along the way! Tot snel! 🙂