Throughout her six years in the SLI program, Sahithi Cherukuri has grown into a STEM leader who seeks to make science and technology more accessible on a global scale. She serves as co-captain on her robotics team, through which she has spread her robotics and digital fabrication skills to more than a dozen students on her team, as well as over 6,000 students in the community. She also leads the Santa Clara High School chapter of Girls Who Code and has co-founded “A Step Ahead” STEM education, a non-profit initiative focused on making STEM education more versatile to a plethora of student learning styles.

Sahithi has been learning Indian classical music since the age of four and is an avid participant in Santa Clara High School’s concert choir. She’s also heavily involved in pageantry and previously served as Miss NorCal Teen Volunteer. In her free time, Sahithi enjoys fashion, traveling, and taste-testing diverse cuisines.

Sahithi will be heading to Carnegie Mellon University this fall to pursue her further education in mechanical engineering and robotics.