Student Spotlight: Mechanical Engineering Senior, Akash Deepak

Akash Deepak is entering his fourth year at UW-Madison. Majoring in Mechanical Engineering (ME) with a Data Science certificate, Akash has used his experiences as a student to navigate the engineering field and find where his true passions lie. After joining student orgs, conducting research, and an internship, Akash discovered a strong interest in robotics and used UW-Madison to get a strong footing in the field. Learn more about how UW-Madison has prepared Akash for his upcoming graduation from the ME degree.

What has your engineering journey been like? Did you ‘always’ want to be an engineer?

Throughout my childhood I loved building LEGOs, so naturally, I joined my FIRST Lego League team in middle school, where I was first introduced to engineering principles. I continued with FIRST through high school, and realized I enjoyed using my creativity and unique solutions to solve problems. Through this experience, I saw that engineering gave me the flexibility to be creative, while still helping people. Combine that with my passion for building things, and engineering seemed like the perfect fit.

How did you decide to pursue a degree in Mechanical Engineering? Is there a specific area of ME you are interested in?

When it came time to choose what major to pursue for college, I was stuck. I knew I wanted to do engineering, but I wasn’t sure whether to do Aerospace, Computer, Mechanical, or Electrical Engineering. The options seemed very broad, but so were my interests. However, one thing I knew is that I’ve always loved things that moved. Whether it was a car or a robot, making things move and learning how to move them was what drove me to pursue a Mechanical Engineering degree.

Since then, I’ve narrowed my interests to robotics, which incorporates lot of different areas of engineering. I’ve now taken classes in mechanical design, advanced robotics, mechatronics, and programming to help me learn what I can about every area of robotics. I hope to go into the robotics industry in the future, whether its humanoid robots, autonomous systems, or robots to help in everyday life.

Are you involved in any student organizations? If so, which ones and what is your involvement?

When I started at UW-Madison, I originally joined Formula SAE due to my automotive interests but eventually realized I liked the controls aspect of engineering more than mechanical design. Knowing this, I joined the Wisconsin Autonomous team, where I am now the Controls Lead! My hope is that this experience will help me build my leadership skills, as well as learn more about the autonomous controls industry and simulation.

I have also been involved with the Wisconsin Engineer Magazine, where I was the photography head. I really enjoyed this experience because I got to cover a variety of topics, meet so many people, and put my photography interest/skills to use. It was also nice to have a creative outlet in between all the math and engineering work.

Can you talk about any experience(s) you have with undergraduate research, internships, or co-ops at UW?

I was originally exposed to robotics research at the Visual Computing Laboratory run by Professor Michael Gleicher. As an undergraduate research assistant, I worked on creating sensor and computer mounts using my mechanical design experience. I also had the privilege of learning the basics of programming a Boston Dynamics Spot robot and got to operate it at the UW Madison Engineering Expo, which I (and many of the attendees) thoroughly enjoyed! I also attended a research conference with the lab, and I would never have been able to do what I did without the experience I gained from working at the UW Design Innovation Lab!

Along with my undergrad research experience, I recently interned at Blue Origin under the Honeybee Robotics division. As a mechanical engineering intern, I did analysis and testing work on gearboxes and motors that go into space. This was a very enlightening experience, as space robotics is an area of engineering that I never considered joining when starting college. I also got to spend the summer in Colorado because of my internship. It was my first time there and I found it to be full of activities and fun!

What has been your favorite ME course or hands-on project so far, and why?

I particularly enjoyed the ME 439: Introduction to Robotics final project. For our final project, my team used two robots to hand off an object from one robot to another. It was eye-opening to see how operating two robots at once increased the complexity, and I enjoyed the learning process the whole way. That class taught me a lot about how robots are implemented in the real world and about the Robot Operating System, which I now use in the work I am doing with Wisconsin Autonomous heavily.

I also enjoyed helping develop an electric go kart with the Design Innovation Lab, which had its first drive last semester! This project was started over a year ago, and it’s been valuable to learn how high-power motors, batteries, and motor controllers all work together. I think it’s really interesting to see how all the concepts and technologies that make a go kart move are the same ones that make a robot or a motor in space move. Plus, getting to drive the go kart is a fun perk.

What is a favorite memory or accomplishment you have from your time in ME or at UW-Madison?

As part of the Wisconsin Engineer Magazine, I set up a story with the nearby Air National Guard base to interview some of their commanders. I initially reached out with no expectations, but a few months later I found myself on an actual military base. I got to talk to active-duty F-35 pilots, sit inside an F-16 simulator, stand next to an F-35, and take photos to publish in the magazine. Out of all the experiences I would expect to get in college, I could never have predicted that one! I think my experiences here at Madison have been one-of-a-kind, and I’m glad that I chose UW-Madison for my undergraduate degree.