Shara Balakrishnan

Shara Balakrishnan, Ph.D. has a diverse work experience spanning various roles and companies. Most recently, they are serving as the Chief Technology Officer at AviAI Inc. since February 2022. Prior to that, they conducted research at UC Santa Barbara, focusing on AI and control theory to advance synthetic biology from September 2018 to January 2023, and data analysis in nonlinear MEMS resonators from September 2017 to June 2019. Shara also worked as a researcher at Cemvita Inc. from June 2022 to September 2022, where they explored AI in bioreactor performance optimization.

In addition to their academic and research roles, Shara had an intern position at Imerys Filtration in 2017, where they helped establish data-flow pipelines. Shara also conducted research at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras from June 2015 to May 2016, focusing on control theory in manufacturing under the guidance of Prof. Arun K. Tangirala and Prof. [No name provided].

Shara's work experience also includes serving as an Executive Committee Member at the Toastmasters Club IITM Chapter, where they worked with 25 members to accomplish their public speaking goals and led a team of 6 members to achieve various club goals in membership, outreach, and project completion. Shara also served as a Project Research Intern at the Titan Innovation Hub in December 2013 and as an intern at Robert Bosch Engineering and Business Solutions in July 2012.

Shara Balakrishnan, Ph.D., holds a Doctor of Philosophy - PhD degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from UC Santa Barbara, where they studied from 2018 to 2023. Prior to that, they earned a Bachelor of Technology - BTech degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, between 2011 and 2015.