My name is Surya Shanmugaselvam, a high school sophomore at J.R. Tucker High School interested in Aerospace Engineering and Computer Science. I am fascinated by the continual progressiveness of technological advancements throughout the years which include IoT (Internet of Things) devices as well as Deep and Machine Learning coupled with Artificial Intelligence. I am also intrigued by the growth of our aerospace industry from Earth to deep space.
I have developed an interest in aeronautical engineering and space exploration through the Virginia Space Grant Consortium and NASA. Through these programs, I have gotten hands-on experience in mission design as well as the physics necessary to make large-scale missions possible. This summer, I took part in Virginia Space Coast Scholars where I worked with a group of passionate and ambitious students with similar ideologies and visions in order to develop an expendable rocket mission to the moon. I was able to now only work as a team but also gather knowledge from others while giving assistance as well. Overall, I developed the soft skills necessary to work in a professional environment.
I have also developed experience with computer programming as I learned JavaScript development including Angular 2+, Typescript, and Node.js. I have developed a working knowledge of object-oriented programming languages such as Java and Python from which I wish to develop APIs, deep learning and machine learning programs as well as Artificial Intelligence programs to solve large-scale issues in our community.
Aside from computer programming, I am very enthusiastic when it comes to speech and debate since I have participated in a variety of speech tournaments such as Optimist International and the Virginia High School League. I was a proud recipient of the Optimist Club scholarship in 2017 in which I delivered a speech about the "Power of Optimism".