Founders

Dr. Mariappan ”JAWA” Jawaharlal, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, California State University, Pomono, California, USA. Dr. Jawa has been recognized as an outstanding educator for his innovative and engaging pedagogy. He has received numerous awards and grants for his teaching and research. He was awarded Northrop Grumman Excellence in Teaching Award in 2010. Dr. Jawa founded the largest School Robotics Program in the US which culminates in a Robot Rally. Robot Rally is in its 7th year and it reaches thousands of students. Dr. Jawa’s research interest include Design, Robotics and Biomimicry. He is a Fellow of Biomimicry Institute. Dr. Jawa is a marathon runner and scuba diver.

Mellssa Jawaharlal is the CEO and co-founder of STEM Center USA As an engineer, eduoator, and entrepreneur, Melissa is passionate about promoting engineering and technology literacy to the next generation through an experiential education where kids ‘re-invent the wheel” and leam-by-doing. In earty 2014, Melissa and her sister ran a successful Kickstarter campaign for an aordable robot kit that merged hardware, software, and electronics. They reached 45 countries and raised over $1 13,000. The girls also authored “The Technical Alphabet“ – an ABC book meant to encourage technical literacy from the time kids start reading. Melissa obtained her mechanical engineering degree on a full scholarship from the University of Southern California with a research focus on space exploration. She has worked at Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems, served as design lead for currently orbiting satellites at the Information Sciences Institute (ISI), and performed software optimization for the United States Air Force. Melissa has presented her work at MIT through the lemelsan-MIT |nvenTeams program. She also studied at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. Melissa is a zealous supporter of closing the gender gap in STEM fields.

Lavanya Jawaharlal is a co-founder of STEM Center USA and studying Mechanical Engineering with a concentration in Engineering Leadership and Ocean Engineering at the University of California – Berkeley. Lavanya became interested in engineering through her work and experience with robotics in high school and is now an active member of Engineers without Borders and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. As a young female engineer, Lavanya is passionate about working closely with local schools to sit on panels and speak at conferences to discuss the importance of women and underrepresented communities in the STEM majors. She also serves as a Senator representing the engineering and STEM fields on the UC Berkeley campus. As a senator Lavanya has created the first ever STEM Awareness Day and is currently working to launch the Cross Cultural STEM talks, an effort that focuses on underrepresented students within the STEM field. Lavanya’s research involves working at the Theoretical and Applied Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, where she researched ways to harvest wave energy through a submerged wave carpet.