MISTI GTL in Wales 2024 Instructors
Akila Saravanan
Akila is an Aeronautical and Aerospace Engineering master’s student at MIT, with Bachelors of Science degrees in Aerospace Engineering and Computer Science [double major] with a Minor in Science Writing & Communication. Akila currently works as an Instructor and Research Project Mentor at InspiritAI, where she teaches online AI programmes for Middle and High School students, and is also a Graduate Researcher at MIT Dynamics, where she has developed models to locate drone reconnaissance bases for disaster response. Akila has worked as a Machine Learning intern for Aurora Flight Sciences (a Boeing Company) in Massachusetts, an Engineering Intern for Venturi Astrolab in California, an Investment Analyst Intern for Meru Capital Group in New York, and a Software Engineering Intern for Princeton Satellite Systems in New Jersey. Akila holds a Private Pilot and Remote (Drone) Pilot licence, was awarded the Astronaut Scholar Class of 2022 by the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation, and has been the President of the MIT Flying Club since 2020.
Diana Bishop
Diana is a Junior at MIT studying Computer Science & Engineering and Linguistics & Philosophy. She is currently a Lab Assistant for MIT’s Introduction to Computational Thinking and Data Science Course, where she tutors students in Python and general coding concepts. Previously, Diana has worked as an Undergraduate Researcher for MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab where she investigated syntax-based shortcomings of language models such as ChatGPT. To demonstrate her leadership skills, Diana is currently a Program Administrator & Officer for MIT Educational Studies Programme and the Officer, Lighting Designer, and Stage Manager for the MIT Shakespeare Ensemble. On a personal level, Diana is excited about the chance to learn about Welsh culture, hear the Welsh language spoken, and get hands-on experience with a bilingual curriculum.
Disha Kohli
Disha is a Junior at MIT studying Computer Science & Engineering and Mathematics. Her programming languages and skills include Python, Java, Ruby on Rails, React Native, Figma, C/C++, Javascript, HTML, CSS, SQLite, Numpy, React, MATLAB, Linux, and Julia. During the summer of 2023, Disha worked as a Software Development Engineering Intern in Nepal. Here, she designed and developed an app to connect farmers providing produce to the Kathmandu Valley directly with their consumers in order to give them back the value of their money. Disha has also programmed an educational chatbot to support virtual learning. At MIT, Disha is a part of Camp Kesem, a programme that aims to provide a safe space for children whose parents have fought or are currently fighting cancer. While the camp itself is not focused on education, the camp has taught Disha love, patience, resourcefulness, flexibility, and the magic that comes with supporting children.
Emma Schuler
Emma is a Sophomore at MIT studying Biological Engineering. She is a member (as well as Secretary) of the MITBiomakers group - a group dedicated to harnessing one’s own interest in biology to work on individual or group projects while also developing workshops for those with little experience in the subject. Since 2022, Emma has also been a member of MIT’s Camp Kesem - a programme that aims to provide a safe space for children whose parents have fought or are currently fighting cancer - and is also currently a Volunteer Coordinator. Emma greatly credits where she is today to the amazing teachers she had growing up. She knows how influential a teacher can be when they are passionate about their work, and she would strive to have that same positive influence on whatever students she teaches.
Evelyn Zhu
Evelyn is a Sophomore at MIT studying Computer Science & Engineering. Alongside her studies, Evelyn is currently a Software Engineer for Sunona.ai (a healthcare startup) where she works on full-stack web development using GPT to generate medical notes She is also an Undergraduate Researcher for MIT Senseable City Lab’s Visual AI Team, and an Autonomy Programmer for MIT Arcturus Robotics’ Navigations Subteam. Outside of the classroom, Evelyn is in the top 1% of chess players in the United States! She is the Co-Founder of (and Chess Teacher at) Unruly Queens, where she has coached over 200 young female chess players across the country through launching free online group chess lessons. She has collaborated with fellow masters to build and execute lesson plans ranging from basics of chess to advanced strategies and techniques.
Julie Chen
Julie is a Sophomore at MIT studying Chemical Engineering. She is a Chemistry Teaching Assistant at MIT, where she facilitates tutoring sessions and hosts problem set office hours every week and exam reviews. Moreover, Julie is a Talented Scholars Resource Room facilitator in chemistry, biology and mathematics. Her extracurricular honours include being a Science Olympiads State and Regional Medalist, being an Academic WorldQuest State Winner and National Qualifier, receiving the M3 Math Modeling Challenge Honourable Mention, and receiving the FIRST Tech Challenge Team Regional Award. Julie wants to teach because she enjoys helping others understand concepts, especially on topics that she previously struggled in. She likes showing them the tips and tricks she used herself to grasp a topic and seeing the concept “click” with them.
Katherine Reisig
Katherine is a Senior at MIT studying Environmental Engineering and Music. She is passionate about spreading knowledge and helping every student become the best they can be. During the summer of 2022, Katherine travelled to South Africa for a month and partnered with The Mamelodi Initiative to teach maths to students in years 8 & 9. She fully understands that education is a privilege that can change lives. Katherine has worked as an intern at University of Nebraska-Lincoln Panhandle Research Extension Center, where she collaborated with a ten-person team to collect and process data in order to find the effect of various levels of fertilisation on greenhouse gas emissions, water pollution, and plant yield. Katherine has a true love for music, with a thorough music theory, music performance, and music history background.
Kennedy Adkinson
Kennedy is a Junior at MIT studying Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering. She has a passion for mentoring and tutoring, and has had extensive experience teaching in both small and large groups for a multitude of subjects - STEM and non-STEM related. Kennedy has a wealth of leadership experience. She is the Company Fitness Leader (CFL) and Aviation Club Leader for the Naval Reserves Officer Training Corps (NROTC), as well as leading on Naval Student Indoctrination, Career Orientation and Training of Midshipmen. Kennedy is also an Orientation Leader, Associate Advisor, and Camp Kesem Counselor and Unit Leader. Throughout her MIT experience, Kennedy has focused on developing her leadership skills and feels confident in her ability to communicate, solve problems, and balance curiosity, hard work, and fun in a classroom setting!
Mackenzie Bivin
Mackenzie is a Junior at MIT studying Business Analytics and Economics. She is looking forward to participating in the GTL in Wales programme as she want to connect with the youth, give back, and help ensure quality exposure to STEM for all students. Mackenzie cares deeply about the educational experiences of young people, therefore, she will work to improve those experiences. Mackenzie currently works as a Teaching Assistant at MIT’s Department of Economics and is also a Development Coordinator for Kesem at MIT - an organisation that supports children who have been impacted by a parent’s cancer. Previously, Mackenzie has worked as a Baseball Research & Development Intern at San Diego Padres. Here, she explored and analysed data to determine reliability and glean meaningful patterns and trends, and used advanced statistical methods to create player tendency models.
Miles Oglesby
Miles is a Senior at MIT studying Aerospace Engineering. Through the GTL in Wales programme, he is looking forward to teaching Physics, Rocketry, and anything related to space and/or flight. Miles is currently an Undergraduate Researcher at MIT Space Propulsion Laboratory, where he is performing research on the use of electrospray thrusters as fuel injectors for monopropellant thrusters. Miles is also an Undergraduate Teaching Assistant and Physics Mentor at MIT and a Student Leader at Gordon-MIT Engineering Leadership Programme. In this role, he participates in a selective leader development programme centred around cultivating the leadership and collaboration skills that drive successful engineering teams. Previously, Miles has worked as a Systems Engineering Intern, performing programme management work on projects involving the EA-18G Growler aircraft, and as a Technical Programme Management Intern, developing software that monitors satellite signal strength to be displayed to mission operations.
Natasha Joglekar
Natasha is an Engineering Computer Science master’s student at MIT, with a Bachelors of Science degree in Computer Science and Molecular Biology and a minor in Women and Gender Studies. Natasha believes that STEM is seen as a discipline where creativity and personality are not important, which having been at MIT is far from the truth. Through teaching, she wants to connect with and show that a diverse set of people and skills are valuable and needed in STEM. Natasha currently works as a Data Analyst at The Camden Coalition, where she works with programme teams to be able to define and build site specific metrics, build out reporting dashboards, and communicate data trends to social workers, nurses, and patient care coordinators. Natasha has previously worked as a Teaching Assistant for Single and Multivariable Calculus and as a Biology Department Tutor at MIT.
Varsha Sandadi
Varsha is a Computer Science & Brain/Cognitive Science master’s student at MIT, with a Bachelors of Science degree in Computer Science & Brain/Cognitive Science. She strongly believes in using the power of STEM education to cultivate a joy for learning and curiosity in students. Since 2021, Varsha has worked as an Artificial Intelligence Instructor at Inspirit AI. Here, she has instructed 400+ students (ages 7-18) across 650+ hours of virtual sessions, from complete beginners to advanced programmers. Varsha has previously worked as a Machine Learning Intern in both Massachusetts and the Netherlands, as well as a Consulting Intern in Illinois. Varsha has 4+ years of experience in international teaching through a variety of MISTI/GTL programmes, as well as teaching and mentorship programmes as extracurriculars.
Interested in joining our instructional team?
If you’re a STEM student (undergraduate or postgraduate) at a Welsh university and you’d like to teach alongside other instructors around the world through the Global Teaching Labs programme, please get in touch with Equal Education Partners.