Photos courtesy of Akella family
When Manasa Akella began her freshman year at New Albany High School, she, like most students, didn’t know what she wanted to do in the future. But it didn’t take very long for that to change.
She joined the high school’s robotics team and, “after just a couple of days of working on the robot, I was captivated,” she says.
Akella and her family, which consists of her mom, dad and younger brother who is in eighth grade at New Albany Middle School, have lived in New Albany since she was 2 years old. Akella was introduced to robotics while she was in middle school and a member of a local, private Lego League team through the For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology program.
FIRST provides STEM-related programs for elementary and middle school students and proved to be an important step for Akella’s robotics pursuit. After she joined the high school robotics team, the Digital Eagles, Akella reflected on the road she took to get there and realized something was missing.
“After seeing how much the program had impacted me, I made it my goal to give the same experience to as many New Albany students in my community as possible,” she explains. “When I discovered our district didn’t offer robotics for middle schoolers, I was shocked. I decided to spread STEM throughout the school district by creating, coaching and mentoring a middle school robotics team.”
Akella working with young students
To achieve this goal, she met with the middle school principal and presented an original lesson plan aligned with Ohio’s Common Core standards. The program has grown from 10 students to more than 100 just a few years later and has won many coveted awards along the way.
What makes Akella such a successful mentor and coach is her own award-winning career in robotics. As a junior, Akella was selected as a FIRST Dean’s List Finalist, an award for outstanding student leaders whose passion for and effectiveness at attaining FIRST ideals is exemplary. As part of this recognition, Akella got to travel to the FIRST world championships.
This year, Akella was selected as a 2019 National Honorable Mention for the National Center for Women in Information Technology Award for Aspirations in Computing.
“This program means so much to me because I have been selected to be a member of an active and supportive group of over 12,000 women and the largest community of its kind in the nation,” she says, noting the group provides resources for her to spread STEM education to other young women and girls.
Akella excels as a student beyond her passion for robotics, and this year she serves as treasurer for the New Albany High School National Honors Society, a role she also fulfills for the Environmental Club as they implemented a composting program in the high school’s lunchroom. Additionally, Akella is a first-degree black belt in the Korean martial arts form Tang So Do, she plays the flute and volunteers as a member of the floor faculty team at COSI, passing on her love for science and technology to kids there.
Robotics will continue to be a part of Akella’s life after she graduates from NAHS this spring.
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New Albany High School Digital Eagles
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Akella with delegates and VIPs from the competition. Akella was a student ambassador and was tasked with giving them a tour.
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Akella with team members at a regional competition cheering on their robot.
“I am planning to major in mechanical engineering with a concentration on mechatronics and autonomy. I would like to minor in business and global engineering and use my mechanical engineering education to make the world a better place,” she says.
Akella attributes her passion to opportunities and the people she has met in New Albany, especially her Digital Eagles teammates.
“My team has taught me how to be an active member of my community and has made me the person that I am today,” she says.
Bob Valasek is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
