Hi! My name is Maha Lakshmi Yarlagadda, and I was born and raised in India. As a daughter of a rural farming family, I am blessed to have a father and mother who believe in educating girls. Although my father has a modest government job, he always encouraged my sister and me to work hard and dream of higher education. He always thought that education is the best gift parents can offer a child. With a lot of personal sacrifices, my parents afforded to pay for my undergraduate studies in India. My father’s sincerity and dedication towards hard work laid a good foundation for me and my sister.

While in India, I worked as a web developer at a small startup company, Pivot Info Solutions. It is there where I learned collaboration, team spirit, and communication skills. Inspired by my father, I joined Wichita State University to work towards my Masters in Electrical Engineering. During my first semester at WSU, I took one of Dr. Sawan’s classes and was inspired equally by him. The way he connected with students with respect, trust and caring made a great impact on me. After taking several classes with him, he became one of my mentors and encouraged me to do a Ph.D. I admired his work ethic, commitment to students, teaching us valuable life lessons, and generosity with time and advice. I always thought and followed his advice on various issues including returning to WSU and pursue a Ph.D. degree.

I am currently pursuing a PhD in Control Theory from Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) department under Dr. Watkins. My minor is in Networking. I am also working as a graduate teaching assistant in the EECS department. Wichita State University is my home away from home where I have learned so many valuable life lessons. I’ve learned to be independent, team player, patient instructor, peer motivator, community volunteer, and an empowered woman.