Riddhi Ranjithkumar

2023

Chennai, India

Academic Interests

BME

Fun Fact

We speak 3 languages at home.

Hi! My name is Riddhi and I was born in California. After living there for many years, I then moved to the chaotic and bustling city of Chennai, which I consider my home. The experiences I’ve had in Chennai have contributed greatly into shaping who I am today.

Since I was young, I’ve always known that I wanted to be involved in the field of medicine and healthcare, fascinated by the work of surgeons and doctors. It was only as I got older that I started to understand that healthcare wasn’t just about what we see on the surface, and that there are teams of people working behind the scenes - whether that be creating medicines, doing research, or developing complex devices that help keep us alive. This was what led me to discover biomedical engineering. For now, I am interested in the field of instrumentation and in the future, I wish to delve into bio-MEMs research and explore other areas such as imaging.

Outside of this, another one of my interests is sustainability, more specifically with regards to the protection and conservation of water resources. My hometown has had many crises related to water - whether it be the flooding that happened 4 years ago or the drought this past summer. After experiencing these first-hand and knowing that these were caused in part by poor urban planning, it has led me to think about and question the steps we can take, especially in developing countries, to better manage dwindling resources.

What do you like about being a SPIRE Fellow?

I was attracted to SPIRE because of the commitment the program has in providing extensive STEM mentoring to undergraduates, and I’m looking forward to using these resources to help me do the best I can.

Ranjithkumar headshot.
Riddhi Ranjithkumar