Bhavya Bellannagari
Bhavya Bellannagari is from the bay area, California, and attended Basis Independent Silicon Valley for high school. At Columbia University, she intends to explore Computer Science, Operations Research, and Entrepreneurship.
Starting freshman year, Bhavya has conducted research in the field of plasma science and its medical applications in sterilization and wound healing. Throughout high school, she worked on a novel dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma device called the multi-electrode DBD plasma jet. This plasma jet incorporated a movable outer electrode that changes plasma output characteristics such as temperature, length, and plasma luminosity, which directly impacted the plasma's sterilization abilities. She fully characterized this torch design and tested its effectiveness against E. coli K-12 bacterial colonies. Her work advances technology in the plasma torch industry since this torch is capable of altering characteristics without changing operating conditions, making it beneficial for medical situations that require immediate attention.
She advanced her experimental work at Princeton University’s PCRF lab (Princeton Collaborative Low Temperature Plasma Research Facility). There, emission spectroscopy was conducted using a SpectrPro HRS-500mm Triple Grating Imaging Spectrograph and a CCD camera. Hybrid coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy and (femtosecond/picosecond CARS) thermometry was employed to probe rotational and vibrational temperatures. In addition, Two-Photon Absorption Laser Induced Fluorescence (TALIF) was used to examine the atomic oxygen densities in the plasma plume.
Expanding on the applications of her DBD research and recognizing the rapid spread of COVID-19, Bhaya designed a way to prioritize air passengers' safety in the aviation industry. Since pathogen mitigation inside airplanes is required for safe travel, she implemented various mitigation techniques, including exposure to UVC light, ozone, and DBD plasma to generate radicals that can kill pathogens. She combined these techniques in a single system to meet the aviation industry's challenge of controlling onboard pathogens. She worked with her mentor Dr. Zaidi to redesign a plasma torch to create a plasma sheet jet that covered a large surface area, and it's the first of its kind in the plasma jet industry.
Bhavya has published and presented her plasma research work in many international journals and conferences, including IEEE International Conference on Plasma Science, International Conference on Plasma Medicine, Begell House Plasma Medicine, Council on Undergraduate Research (NCUR), Bay Area Biomedical Device Conference, Southern Califonia Conference for Undergraduate Research, and Sigma Xi.
On a trip to her grandparent's house, she felt a burst of responsibility when she witnessed her grandma lighting candles for the fifth time in two weeks when the power went out. When she tried to find a sustainable solution to this problem, she realized that existing portable solar lamps were inadequate. So she took it upon herself to source materials, experiment with voltage/current characteristics, and design molds for individual components to design her own portable solar lamp. Seeing the impacts of the pandemic on millions of people's lives, especially those in rural hospital settings, she added a pathogen mitigation system and a medical tool sterilization compartment to her solar lamp. After prototyping, she has a patent pending on this design and hopes to distribute her product globally to those who need air sterilization and reliable light.
Apart from research, Bhavya was involved with many STEM and art clubs and organizations in and outside school. She took leadership in her school's Science Olympiad team, who competed in the California State Championships, and in multiple regional and national level invitationals. She founded the National Art Honors Society chapter for her school, where she organized art exhibits, partnered with the Memory Project where her chapter sent personalized artworks to kids in orphanages in countries like Peru and Cameroon, and conducted schoolwide art events. Also, her chapter was recognized in the NAHS national journal. Additionally, she is a published artist and has won awards in the Scholastic Art and Writing Competition.
From a young age, Bhavya has been inspired by forwarding the dichotomy between STEM and the arts. Through her artistic side, she poses questions to those around her to spur ideation. Through scientific inquiry, she seeks solutions to the questions she asks, satisfying her curiosity. Her family and community have inspired her hunger for knowledge and her empathetic nature, translating her passion for particular subjects to teaching. She has shared her knowledge with others by teaching high school and undergraduate students research techniques and creating visual arts. These practices, combined with her innate curiosity to solve problems, have inspired her to design products, advance her research, and win an NCWIT (The National Center for Women & Information Technology) aspirations in computing award.
Through her experiences, she discovered that pinpointing problems, envisioning, and engineering solutions for humanity are her fervor. At Columbia, she is eager to forward Columbia Engineering's mission of engineering for humanity while innovating creative solutions to pressing global problems.