Grand Challenges Scholar, Spring 2024
Sashrik Rajesh
Sashrik Rajesh had a clear goal after high school graduation: to enter a field within engineering. With a passion for coding and problem-solving, he opted for computer science for his career path.
He knew he wanted to attend an institution outside of his home country of India. After considering his options, Rajesh chose the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University due to the strength of its programs.
During his studies, he was surprised to discover that he could combine his knowledge of coding and computers with his passion for finance to enhance his academic experience.
“I used to see coding and finance as two separate interests,” Rajesh says. “However, after my journey through my degree at ASU, I have learned plenty of skills and concepts that I have been able to apply to both computer science and finance technology.”
He pursued both passions through membership in student organizations such as the AI Society at ASU, Sun Devil Stock Exchange and the ASU chapter of Engineering Projects in Community Service, or EPICS. For his group’s EPICS project, Rajesh coded a website to help students in Africa learn science and math.
“This opportunity helped me with my skills with coding and allowed me to be a part of something with a much larger impact,” he says. “Something that started off as a project turned into the moment when I knew I could implement the skills I am learning on this path in meaningful ways as well.”
Rajesh continued his work to help others by designing solutions for societal problems as part of the Grand Challenges Scholars Program. He discovered a community within the Tamil Sun Devil Association and flexed his entrepreneurial side through participating in Venture Devils, where exploring the idea of starting his own business resulted in Fin Sash, a financial and investing education platform.
Rajesh’s accomplishments in computer science also include his group senior capstone project winning first place in its category at the spring 2024 Capstone Showcase event for the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, part of the Fulton Schools. He and his group created new software to replace the program used to judge Capstone Showcase events.
“As a computer science student and Grand Challenges Scholar, this is a remarkable achievement in my ASU journey,” Rajesh says.
After graduation, Rajesh will pursue his master’s degree in computer science through ASU’s Accelerated Master’s degree program while looking for a job. Long term, he aims to grow his entrepreneurial ventures and explore the world.
“I would like to travel as much as I can and explore places I haven’t seen while learning about ideals and perspectives that I can implement into my life,” Rajesh says.
Read about other exceptional graduates of the Fulton Schools’ spring 2024 class here.