Akash Mattupalli

Who am I?

I am a rising junior in Mechanical Engineering and am minoring in Global Engineering Studies. My desire to learn arose from acclimatizing to different cultures by living in India, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, England, and now the United States. I gained an appreciation for Engineering through my father, a Chemical Engineer, and I wish to use my interests in Arts and the Sciences to innovate in future technology. 

Having moved around a lot, I like to write about the theme of identity in my free time to reflect on my experiences. Through the DeBoer Lab, I wish to explore and understand how an individual’s identity, culture, and empathy can be harnessed to better engineer and to challenge the notion that an engineer can only be gauged through their technical expertise. Currently, I am working on Water Filtration projects with Secondary School girls in Zimbabwe and Solar projects with Arduinos to be used in Kédougou, Senegal.  In the near future, I would like to explore my interests in Thermodynamics and, possibly, semiconductors. 

Research Interests: 

• Understanding how local indigenous knowledge can be used to create a contextualized engineering framework for future curricula.

• Learning how to do asset mapping for the tangible and intangible resources of a community.

• Using microcontrollers for water testing and solar panel projects such as a Solar Tracking Device and a Peltier Refrigeration System.

Professional Experience: 

• Purdue Electric Racing (Vehicle Dynamics Subteam)

• Purdue Global Engineering Alliance for Research and Education (GEARE)

Education:

• B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University (2024)

Hobbies: 

• Writing

• Reading

• Photography using Film Camera