Avinash Siravuru

My name is Avinash Siravuru.I'm currently a Junior pursuing a Major in Mechanical Engineering from Vellore Institute of Technolgy.I've been an active space enthusiast since childhood and am an active member(since over 7 years) and a close associate(since inception) of The Planetary Society,India and organised numerous space awareness camps,star gazing sessions,Mars Day,Earth Day functions etc. in my hometown Hyderabad Later during my undergraduation I was amongst the few who were selected to become members SEDS(Students for Exploration and Development of Space) VIT Chapter.Here I was exposed to the various space technologies,our india space program and such other fields.In the following year,I was amongst the 8 sophomores selected to lead a bunch 200 members of our chapter.During the same time SEDS-VIT hosted the SEDS International Conference in collaboration with AAS and ISU.I was a part of th Program Committee of this conference and through the eyes of my visionary seniors gained vital inputs which helped me successfully organize a National level Moon Rover Competition during SEDS India National Conference-09 conducted last February.The Moon Society,USA endorsed this event and it was well received all over the nation and lauded by promiment personalities like Dr.Ramakrishnan,Director-Projects(VSSC,ISRO) and Mr.Pallava Bagla(Scientific Editor,NDTV-India).The continous progress and the high commitment that SEDS-VIT has shown towards Space Awareness was well appreciated and SEDS-VIT was made the headquarters of SEDS-INDIA. In my various capacities as a Team Leader(as a sophomore) and Project Coordinator(as a Junior), I strived to give to my college mates a feast of all the realms of space from astronomy,astrobio,space technology,space advocacy,etc. and Our teams efforts were duly credited by the management and I proudly say that SEDS-VIT for the first time in the history of VIT has won the Best Student Chapter award for the second time and more so in succession.We had stiff competition from Bigwigs like IEEE,ASME,Institute of Engineers,India(IEI), SAE,etc. In its three years of existance it has made an indeligible mark in the hearts of VITians and i am proud to be a part of it and moreso to have lead to the distinction.