TEAM

Shrika Eddula - President

Passionate about the environmental problems that our society faces and intrigued by the ways in which computer simulation can be used to represent the properties of synthesized chemical compounds, Shrika conducts research at the intersection of physical chemistry and computer science. Under the mentorship of Dr. William Acree and Dr. Armin Mikler, Shrika uses linear free energy relationships to develop predictive models that guide solvent selection as well as optimize the development of ionic liquids. She believes that research in itself is a multidisciplinary artform that goes beyond that just one’s area of study.

Outside of RO, Shrika is the Honors Chemistry Committee head of TAMS Academic Society, an avid volunteer in Girls Engineering Club, and a dedicated napper. When she’s not falling asleep on the DPark bus, she can be found at Willis attempting to get work done, getting cereal from Bruce in the middle of the day, trying to hand whisk eggs to fluffiness, or stringing her ukulele for the 100th time.

dAVE bANERJEE - ASPIRE EXPOSITION DIRECTOR

As an avid wearer of garments of or related to the head or cranium, Dave serves on the leadership committees of many student organizations that range from the Cheer Squad to the Quiz Bowl team. Dave is the ASPIRE Exposition Director for RO, where he hosts weekly volunteering events at local Elementary Schools to spark interest in STEM. He is a member of the executive board for the TAMS Quiz Bowl team where he conducts practice sessions and plans competitions. He is the Physics Committee head of the TAMS Academic Society where he helps his peers excel in physics by holding review lectures, office hours, and one-on-one tutoring. He is also the cheer captain of the school’s cheer squad.

Under the mentorship of Dr. Jose Perez, Dave conducts solid state physics research on nanomaterials and their physical, chemical, and electrical properties. He focuses his research on next-generation materials like molybdenum disulfide, a 2-dimensional semiconductor with many microelectronic applications. He has been invited to present his research at events such as the Materials Research Society Spring Meeting.
Ultimately, Dave wants to earn a Ph.D. and enter academia as a professor where he can continue to pursue his interests in STEM education and research.

sAI sARNALA - CO-DIRECTOR OF COMPETITIONS

Interested in finding solutions to improve human health, Sai conducts research in Dr. Richard Dixon’s plant molecular biology lab. He works to find highly active, epidermal specific promoter sequences to genetically modify Medicago sativa plants to optimize flavonoid pathways and maximize condensed tannin production for commercial and human-health related applications. He has presented his research at many science fairs and research symposiums. He hopes research can ultimately help him achieve his dream of becoming a general surgeon in the future.

Outside of research, Sai enjoys shooting hoops with his friends and will be a captain for the TAMS basketball team this year. He will also serve as the TAMS Student Council Treasurer and Debate Co-coach. In his free time, you can find him chilling in Mac, playing online chess, or ordering a deconstructed Spicy Chicken Sandwich, countless free pickles, and a heap of Honey Mustards at the Union Chick-fil-A.

NAMAN mEHNDIRATTA - Co-Director of Competitions

Spurred by the prospect of refining our understanding of physics, Naman conducts computational physics research beyond the Standard Model. Working under Dr. Carlos Ordonez in the Physics Department, Naman programs Classical Trajectory Monte Carlo simulations in Wolfram Mathematica to develop an ideal experiment to be conducted at the CERN Antiproton Decelerator facility—an experiment that could potentially solve the matter-antimatter asymmetry problem.

Outside of RO, Naman enjoys volunteering with Habitat for Humanity and will be a committee head for the Habitat for Humanity committee under HOPE. You can often find him working on his lifting form at the Rec, reading horror stories on r/nosleep, climbing trees, jungling in League, and catching wild snakes while field herping.

ShAKTHI pRABHAKAR - Aspire Mentorship Director

A prospective professor, mentor, and lifetime student all in one, Shakthi has dedicated his career towards advancing the knowledge of the current and next generations. He works with Dr. Hui Zhao and Ph.D student Yuwen Cui on optimizing multicore processing systems to handle robust simulations, by implementing advanced non-conflict (NoC) architectures and innovative packet transfer algorithms. Apart from research, Shakthi avidly participates in mentorship-based volunteering, being a volunteer tutor, a High School Tutoring committee head, a Senior Mentor, as well as RO’s Aspire Mentorship Director.

In his downtime, Shakthi likes to open top lane in League of Legends, brick 2-pointers in basketball, huck frisbees at his roommate, spend 2 hours a day on the D-park bus, and do some light reading.

Sam Earls - Program Advisor

As the Program Advisor for the Research Organization for over five years, Sam has solidified himself as a leading expert in the art of ROgain. If used and practiced as directed, ROgain gives students the power to push the boundaries of knowledge while also giving Program Advisors the ability to bask in the glory of an excellent group of student leaders. Since January 2015, Sam has been pursuing his PhD in the Educational Psychology department at UNT. Specializing in Gifted and Talented Education, Sam is currently working on his dissertation, which focuses on academic predictors of success in Early College Entrance Programs.

When Sam isn’t advising RO or the Class of 2021, he can often be found playing ultimate frisbee, basketball, or softball, reading a sci-fi or fantasy book, reviving Abstract Expressionism, settling Catan, watching too much Netflix, locating Bobby Fischer, attempting to venture to every state in the U.S., cross-stitching, eating food that isn’t meat, finding a use for his appendix, recycling, marveling at the sheer size of the blue whale, enjoying cheese more than he should, scaling low walls, avoiding elevators, dropping it as if it were hot, and writing excessively long autobiographies that are only mostly true.