Sampadaa Prakash
Sampadaa Prakash
Sampadaa Prakash grew up in Houston, Texas, and attended both Seven Lakes High School and the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science. She plans to major in Mechanical Engineering and minor in Computer Science, eager to work at the intersection of computation and engineering in the growing world of space exploration.
In high school, Sampadaa began conducting computational astrophysics research with Dr. Yuan Li at the University of North Texas. The two main research projects she worked on aimed to analyze the turbulence, spatiality, and overall kinematics of the intracluster medium (ICM) in the centers of giant galaxy clusters millions of light years away. Sampadaa created velocity structure function and clump mass distribution algorithms on Python—converting raw gas particle data files to multi-level, in-depth analyses of supermassive black hole effects on motion and clumping in multiphase filaments. Throughout her research, she earned over $5,750 in research scholarships, stipends, and grants, including the TAMS Summer Research Residential Scholarship, UNT Kathy Weiner Named Scholarship, and Naval Science Award (Office of Naval Research, U.S. Navy & U.S. Marine Corps). Sampadaa also participated in multiple competitions and conferences, including earning second place in her category throughout the entire state of Texas at the Texas Junior Academy of Science (TJAS). While working under Dr. Li’s $290k grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF), Sampadaa co-authored two peer-reviewed publications in scientific journals.
Sampadaa also was involved in FIRST Robotics. She was part of the mechanical sub-team for all her years, where she helped create complex robot parts, such as a climber to transverse up to ten feet. In 2022, she was an Outreach Director for the 4639 The Robospartans. Here, she organized STEM/CS workshops/camps for over 200 elementary and middle school students—inspiring early immersion in the field. Her involvement aided her team in making it to the FIRST International Championship, where they placed in the top 20 in their international division and around 70th overall. She also helped the team win the Entrepreneurship Award at the Texas state level and the Innovation in Control and Engineering Inspiration Awards at the regional level for outreach and technical efforts.
Sampadaa also served as Hackathon Director for the TAMS Computer Science Organization. She oversaw and directed hackTAMS—the largest 24-hour, in-person high school hackathon in North Texas—to make hackathons more accessible to high schoolers of all backgrounds. She led raising over $12,000 in sponsorships/grants from companies such as Stoke Coworking and GitHub Education, networking with guest speakers from software companies and academia to organize panels and workshops, and managing a team of eight to organize the event—garnering 200+ participants across two years/iterations.
Additionally, Sampadaa enjoys doing astrophotography. She started in 2020 with her Celestron Powerseeker 127EQ telescope and iPhone—capturing and editing celestial images of the Moon, Saturn, and Jupiter. She created an Instagram account to share her passion (@astronomyenthusiast42), where she posts her astrophotography and general astronomy information to educate people of all experience levels—amassing over 500k profile views and 620 followers.
Apart from STEM, Sampadaa has been singing since she was young. Starting with Bollywood songs and adding chorale and American pop, she indulges in many music styles. Scoring many solos both in school and out, her vocal endeavors have earned her superior ratings on all of her University Interscholastic League Solo and Ensemble Performances and TMEA Region 23 Mixed Choir Soprano Placement (top 16). She has also raised over $2.4k from singing at charity events/auctions. In her free time, she also enjoys lifting, listening to music, and trying/eating good food.