Akshay began doing research at the University of Minnesota as a high school student through MnSGC’s High-Altitude Ballooning Lab and the Small Satellite (CubeSat) Lab. Akshay originally started working on a project to develop a mathematical model of the relationship between the power produced by a solar cell and the altitude of a solar cell from the ground up into the stratosphere. As a student at the University of Minnesota studying computer engineering, Akshay joined the MURI team and assisted with various projects to measure particulate concentration at stratospheric altitudes. Akshay specifically worked on designing PCBs and configuring electrical circuits for the MURI team. Akshay has presented his work at various symposiums and conferences including the Undergraduate Research Symposium (Summer 2017, Spring 2018), the Minnesota Academy of Science (Spring 2018, Spring 2021), and the Academic High-Altitude (Ballooning) Conference (AHAC 2018) in Omaha, NE.
During the summer of 2021 Akshay worked for the MIT Haystack Observatory on the Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment (MOXIE), a project aimed to produce oxygen from the Martian atmosphere. He is passionate about satellite propulsion and energy efficiency via renewable sources like solar panels.
