Many meritorious students from under-served sections of society drop out of the education system after school because of the lack of finances. However, some of them keep believing in themselves and fight to make their lives better. Tanaya Bapat from Pune is one of them. Tanaya’s father was a mechanical engineer and had a successful career in the industry until he lost his job due to the company shutting down. His father has since been working as an independent consultant in the mechanical field. Tanaya’s mother, on the other hand, had her own small catering business until the Covid-19 pandemic affected the industry.
The 23-year-old, however, did not give up. With a deep passion for engineering, she applied for the Maharashtra state common entrance exam or MHT CET and cracked the exam with high marks. She achieved a score of 180 out of 200, which served as her stepping stone to gaining admission to the College of Engineering Pune (COEP).
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She secured admission with the help of Cadence Scholarship programme which aims to support talented students from underprivileged backgrounds. “Considering my family’s situation, I decided to apply for the opportunity. The application process involved completing various forms and ensuring that I met the programme’s requirements, ” she said. Tanaya completed her schooling from Vidya Bhavan High School in Model Colony, Pune. Tanaya cleared her 10th board in 2016 and 12th in 2018.
She was also selected for a 12-week research internship at Carleton University, Canada. She secured the research internship in the year 2021. Her work has also been published in the journal – International Astronautical Federation in 2019. “I had the privilege of being a part of COEP’s esteemed Satellite team, where I had the opportunity to collaborate with a group of incredibly talented peers. Our collective efforts resulted in the co-authorship of a significant paper. This paper, titled ‘Design and Testing of a Solar Sail Deployment Unit for a Solar Sailing Nanosatellite’, was published in the International Astronautical Federation journal in 2019,” she said.
The selection process for this internship programme was quite rigorous but exciting, said Tanaya. “I had to submit a comprehensive application showcasing my academic achievements, research interests, and future goals. The organiser of the programme carefully reviewed the applications and shortlisted candidates based on their qualifications and compatibility with the available research projects. Shortlisted applicants then underwent a series of interviews and evaluations to assess their suitability for the programme. Finally, the selected interns were matched with Canadian university faculty members based on their research interests,” she said.
Talking about her preparation process for MHT CET 2018, Tanaya said undertaking rigorous self-study, coupled with thorough practice and familiarisation with the examination format is what got her through the exam. “I mostly prepared myself through self-study and attribute my success in the MHT CET to diligent practice with previous years’ question papers. Preparing for my boards also covered a majority of the syllabus for the exam,” she added. She scored a rank of 95 in the state.
Tanaya is currently working as a trainee at Eaton India Innovation Centre (EIIC), situated in Magarpatta, Pune. “Since this is my first year at this job, it is still considered my training period. The primary focus of my training revolves around mechanical design work and Computer-Aided Engineering Drawing (CAED) using specialised software.
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