Hey! I am Akshera Paladhi, an Electrical Engineering student with a minor in Astrophysics at UC Santa Cruz. I want to apply my background to the flight industry, space exploration, and ocean technology. I am also passionate about quantum computing and finding ways to integrate it with aerospace systems. To push these goals forward, I joined CITRIS this summer to learn aerodynamics and autonomous flight through hands-on drone pilot training. Outside of this, I love connecting with engineers and industry leaders across Muon Space, Honeywell, and RTX—with a highlight being a discussion with Irene Makris, President of Power & Controls at Collins Aerospace!