Convocation Speaker, Spring 2021
Shaurya Jaisinghani
Shaurya Jaisinghani wanted to attend a diverse university and be part of a community in which he could learn from people from all backgrounds and cultures.
That desire led him to Arizona State University, and an interest in statistics led him to choose to major in industrial engineering in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at ASU.
He knew industrial engineering was the right major for him on his first day of IEE 210: Introduction to Industrial Engineering when Principal Lecturer Linda Chattin talked about how industrial engineers make processes better and systems more efficient.
“Throughout that semester, I would observe things in my daily life and think, ‘How can I change this? How do I make this faster?’” Jaisinghani says. “Gradually I realized that my brain naturally works in a way that I want to make things around me efficient.”
Jaisinghani had his value of joining a diverse community reinforced while working on a project in the FSE 301: Entrepreneurship and Value Creation course to design and prototype an idea for a startup company.
“I learned that everyone has such different ideas and unique ways of thinking, but if we all come together and focus on the same objective, we can truly change the world,” he says.
Jaisinghani was involved in the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers at ASU throughout his time as a student and conducted research on improving funding allocation in disaster mitigation scenarios through the Fulton Undergraduate Research Initiative.
Through these opportunities, he met Professor Pitu Mirchandani and worked in the professor’s Advanced Transportation and Logistics: Algorithms and Systems, or ATLAS, research laboratory.
“Dr. Mirchandani went out of his way to sit with me and talk through my problems, direct me to the right resources and, above everything, motivate and inspire me to give my best in whatever I do,” he says.
Jaisinghani, an honors student in Barrett, The Honors College, also gave back to many students as an undergraduate teaching assistant, an industrial engineering tutor and especially as a mentor to other honors students.
“As a Barrett Engineering Peer Mentor, I was able to impact 1,200 first-year Barrett Engineering students over the course of two years,” he says. “Having the opportunity to create an inclusive environment for them and make sure they get the best experience during their first year is something I will cherish forever.”
After graduation, Jaisinghani will start a full-time job as a global markets analyst with Goldman Sachs in Salt Lake City.
“I hope to be part of an organization that values financial inclusion for the underprivileged and uses cutting-edge technology to elevate quality of life on a global scale,” he says.
Read about other exceptional graduates of the Fulton Schools’ Spring 2021 class here.