Sahaana Sridhar is a rising senior at Tesla STEM High School in Redmond, Washington. Being part of a STEM-focused environment has allowed her to dive deeply into various technical disciplines, allowing her to further her learning and passion in computation. She is particularly fascinated by the intersection of hardware and software, and aspires to pursue a career in computer engineering research.

Sahaana’s first exposure to programming came through a Scratch competition that her mom signed her up for in 5th grade, and she’s been hooked ever since. Over the years, she has expanded her technical skills, working with Arduino, building video games, and exploring machine learning models. Recently, she completed a year-long research project for the Washington State Science and Engineering Fair, where she developed a novel method for diagnosing generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) through voice analysis using a convolutional neural network. 

In addition to her technical pursuits, Sahaana is actively involved in Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA), Technology Student Association (TSA), and Science Olympiad. (Her favorite events are: FBLA – Public Service Announcement, TSA – Infographic, Science Olympiad – Codebusters). These organizations have allowed her to cultivate her leadership skills while continuing to explore her interests in technology and innovation.

In her downtime, Sahaana loves curating the perfect Spotify playlist for every mood, listening to musical soundtracks, particularly Newsies, In The Heights, and Hamilton. She also enjoys building intricate Lego sets, going to concerts (she’s super excited to go to the Billie Eilish concert in December), and spending time at the park or library with her friends. 

Learn more about Sahaana’s project in the Subramanian Lab here.