SISP Spotlight: Abhinav Sharma and Sasha Nandyala

As students enter their senior year at Mass Academy, they shift their attention to one of the most integral parts of the year: the SISP, or Senior Independent Study Project. As part of this requirement, seniors have to spend 100 hours of work on any passion project of their choice. Mass Academy has this requirement to push its seniors to learn something new and gain knowledge outside of the classroom. Many seniors devote time to either learning a new skill, stepping out of their comfort zone, or just devoting more time to their passions! As Ms. Ludes said, “Don’t think of the SISP as something you have to do for 100 hours. Think of it as something to get to do for 100 hours.”

This year, Mass Academy has a new program where seniors can sign up to be part of a lab and contribute to ongoing projects. As part of this new program, seniors Abhinav Sharma and Sasha Nandyala joined Dr. Nima Rahbar’s lab. “Rahbar’s lab is a civil engineering lab, where we basically mix concrete samples with an enzyme and test the concrete for various aspects, including durability to erosion,” said Nandyala. Sharma added to that by saying, “The specific enzyme that we use is called Carbonic Anhydrase (CA), and it is actually a chemical present in our body that helps regulate the pH of the blood.” When CA is mixed with concrete, it undergoes a chemical reaction between Calcium ions and atmospheric carbon dioxide to produce calcium carbonate. The best part? That calcium carbonate is actually concrete, which means the Rahbar lab just created self-healing concrete!

When asked about the most rewarding part of this lab experience, both Sharma and Nandyala expressed enthusiasm that they were contributing to a bigger cause. “Personally for me, it feels like I am contributing to this sort of cause, like I am doing scientific research to address major infrastructure problems and existential crises in the country,” said Sharma. Nandyala added, ”The area of civil engineering is super new to me, so I really like that this is something that I didn’t do before. This is a really great opportunity to explore something that could have a real-world impact!” 

Juggling their SISP with senior year’s demands—WPI courses, college applications, and extracurriculars—is a tough challenge. Naturally, we had to ask Nandyala and Sharma how they were juggling their workload and if they had any tips for the current juniors. “Time management is a lot more helpful and necessary junior year than senior year,” Nandyala said. “Senior year you have a lot more flexibility and freedom, and so the majority of your time management is setting goals and not procrastinating on long-term projects and assignments.” When asked about managing junior year assignments, Sharma advised, “Start early and have a consistent schedule. Balance it out and don't stress yourself out, because you are inevitably going to fail something.” They both agreed that you should not burn yourself out during junior year. They advised current juniors to take advantage of the summer before senior year and get as much of the SISP done as possible so that they can balance the remainder of their workload throughout the year.

In the end, Sharma and Nandyala’s journey reflects the core of the SISP: stepping out of your comfort zone, doing things you wouldn’t usually have time to do, and learning valuable lessons. Their experience shows that while the work can be tedious at times, it’s ultimately about persistence and growing along the way.