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Meet the team
Diya Dalal
President & Founder Class of 2026
Diya started WiSE with a passion for space exploration and a mission to empower girls in aerospace engineering. When leading the CubeSat project (Pleiades Orpheus), she recognized the lack of representation for women in the field and set out to change it. Currently, she leads the team’s efforts in advancing BalloonSat capabilities for research applications. Fun Fact about Diya: at her preschool graduation, she declared to the public she wanted to be a chef in space: an ambition inspired by her favorite Star Trek character, Neelix.
diya.dalal@gmail.com
Pooja Verma
Program Director Class of 2026
Pooja leads WiSE logistics, ensuring that this impactful initiative is being developed to the highest level! Her favorite aspect of WiSE is its environmental focus, with their 2025-2026 mission aiming to research atmospheric health in an era of climate change. From bringing subsystems together to navigating the partnerships with industry officials, her role focuses on cultivating a robust management backend for WiSE's impactful mission. You can find her sending email newsletters to our 300+ subscribers, creating meeting agendas, or gathering engineering team updates in her free time :) A fun-fact about her is that her most-used app is Notion!!
asappooja@gmail.com
Nidhi Patil
Research and Data Lead Class of 2026
As the Research and Data Lead, Nidhi guides the research process, including research question formulation and determining mission-specific necessities. She works alongside the software subsystem on AI implementation and data processing, a major interest of hers that led her to join WiSE. Nidhi will also lead the authoring of a research paper post-launch to share our findings at WiSE with the scientific community. A fun-fact about her is that she loves Thai tea and has a twin brother.
patil.nidhib@gmail.com
Rhea Cherukuri
Software Director Class of 2026
Rhea Cherukuri is a student who’s passionate about both engineering and speech and debate. A fun fact about her is that she loves river rafting. She joined because of her deep interest in space technology and her goal to pursue a career in aerospace. As Software Director, she leads the entire software development process for her team’s projects, from planning to execution.
rheacheru123@gmail.com
Riya Patel
Mission Software Lead Class of 2026
Riya leads the mission software subsystem, helping configure and code our satellites’ sensors as well as integrate them with the rest of the systems. She also delegates tasks and instructs other members of the software subsystem. She joined because she is very passionate about computer science and is interested in satellites. A fun fact about Riya is she can recite a hundred digits of pi.
riyarpatel08@gmail.com
Shruti Nath
Flight Software Lead Class of 2026
A interest in implementing her code to real, physical projects has led Shruti to WiSE. Shruti aims to bridge the software and the hardware and shape the backend of a high-altitude balloon as flight software lead. In the past, she has helped lead the software department for the WiSE summer camp. A fun fact about Shruti is that she was in the top 0.005% of listeners for Hans Zimmer last year (and loves Christopher Nolan movies).
shrutiweibel@gmail.com
Ashna Patel
Structures Co-Lead Class of 2026
Ashna is an incoming senior at Irvington High School, born on a Leap Day. She has long held a fascination with engineering and is passionate about encouraging more girls to pursue STEM—particularly in the field of satellite engineering.
ashnapatel0229@gmail.com
Diya Vacin
Structures Co-Lead Class of 2026
Diya co-leads Structures for WiSE, overseeing the CubeSat/BalloonSat's frame design, integration, and testing to ensure it can survive launch and operate in orbit. She works closely with the other subsystems on CAD modeling, material selection, and assembly. A fun fact about her is that she plays 3 sports and loves sour candy!
diya.vacin@gmail.com
Avani Tibrewal
Publicity Lead Class of 2026
Avani leads Publicity for WiSE, shaping the team’s brand across the website, socials, and the newsletter. She designs sponsor materials, coordinates press around launches, and keeps a tight content calendar to support fundraising and recruitment. She also co-manages photo/video and media requests. She joined because she has always loved looking at the night sky, getting lost in the stars, and wanted to bring that wonder into aerospace. A fun fact about her is that her file names are usually something like “final_actual_v27_really_final.”
tibrewalavani@gmail.com
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