Sadhana Lolla and Ishan Kalburge have earned the prestigious Gates Cambridge Scholarship, providing them the opportunity to pursue graduate studies at the esteemed Cambridge University in the UK. Founded in 2000 by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the scholarship initiative provides full-cost postgraduate scholarships to outstanding individuals from nations outside the UK. Its goal is to foster a worldwide community of future leaders committed to improving others’ welfare.
Lolla, a computer science major with minors in mathematics and literature at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), plans to undertake an MPhil in technology policy at Cambridge. She envisions leading discussions on implementing and advancing technology for marginalized communities, such as rural Indian villages, while also engaging in research on embodied intelligence. Lolla’s motivation stems from her childhood experiences observing her grandmother’s toil without assistive technology, inspiring her to explore artificial intelligence solutions that provide robotic assistive technology to underserved communities. By pursuing technology policy, she aims to collaborate with regulators, researchers, and the technology industry to devise policy solutions that promote unbiased, resilient, and reliable artificial intelligence, fostering innovation.
Expressing her enthusiasm for receiving the scholarship, Lolla emphasizes her commitment to amplifying the voices of vulnerable communities in technological development discussions. She eagerly anticipates joining the Gates Cambridge community, embracing the opportunity to collaborate with a diverse and talented cohort to drive positive change.
Meanwhile, Kalburge seeks to leverage his scholarship to support individuals diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, embarking on a PhD in engineering under the guidance of Máté Lengyel, a professor in Cambridge’s computational and biological learning lab. His research will utilize probabilistic deep learning to explore how humans construct internal representations of uncertainty during decision-making processes. Kalburge views the Gates Cambridge Scholarship as an invaluable platform for engaging with global leaders, affording him access to a vibrant and diverse community that can enrich his academic, leadership, and personal growth.
Throughout his undergraduate journey, Kalburge has been actively involved in the Johns Hopkins Biomedical Engineering Society, serving on the board and eventually leading as its president.
