Harsha Manivannan

Harsha Manivannan is a sophomore at the University of Maryland (UMD) majoring in Mechanical Engineering. This summer, she’s working with Dr. Cecilia Huertas Cerdeira, an Assistant Professor in UMD’s Department of Mechanical Engineering. They’re working on a research project that involves characterizing the performance of a tuna-inspired unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV). The project entails building and testing a caudal fin of a tuna fish in the MATRIX Lab’s water tunnel. As the undergraduate researcher on the project, Harsha measures the power efficiency of various caudal fins of different stiffness distributions at different pitch, roll, and heaving angles, to determine the most efficient fins for thunniform locomotion.

During the internship, Harsha would like to enhance her research skills by running experiments in the water tunnel, gaining more knowledge in electronics and programming the experimental setup, and post processing and analyzing such data collected from these experiments. This position particularly interested her because of the MATRIX Lab’s resources and unique opportunities.

Harsha’s research interests include fluid dynamics, robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), and smart systems. Her technical skills include 3D printing, soldering, programming (python, MATLAB, Arduino, C++), CAD, and beginner computational fluid dynamics (CFD).

Harsha is an active member of the UMD community. She is involved with leadership in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), Society of Women Engineers (SWE), Pi Tau Sigma (International Mechanical Engineering Honor Society), GEMSTONE Honors Program (4 year interdisciplinary team research), and the Engineering Honors Research Program (independent undergraduate thesis generation program based on GPA). She recently received the Outstanding Service Award being the Events Chair for ASME in recognition of initiative, coordination, and energy in organizing impactful events to strengthen chapter community. She was also selected to be in the Dean's List for both the Fall 2024 and Spring 2025 semester. Additionally, she was recently inducted into the Maryland Chapter of Pi Tau Sigma as part of being in the upper 25% of her mechanical engineering class. 

In the future, Harsha hopes to get more involved with independent research at UMD, leading to pursuing a Master's degree. Ultimately, she would like to become a subject matter expert in an aerospace concentration within mechanical engineering, and be on the frontlines of innovation and creation in engineering.