From the ground up: Embracing failure, building community, and winning the IET India Scholarship
Words from Rithika S.K
If you had told me when I was younger, as an athlete who loved sports and talking more than anything else, that I would win the IET India Scholarship Award at the age of 20, I would have laughed. Life, however, has a remarkable way of reshaping our paths.
Switching from being a bio-math student to majoring in Computer Science at KCG College of Technology felt like a huge leap into the unknown. But if there is one trait I have always relied on, it’s my refusal to be embarrassed by my own mistakes. I love trying new things, even when I am terrible at them initially. I genuinely take pride in being a "jack of all trades." Focusing on one skill rarely teaches you interoperability or multitasking, two skills that eventually became my greatest strengths.
That fearlessness drove me straight into the world of hackathons during my first year of college. Driven by curiosity and a desire to learn beyond the classroom syllabus, I joined a hackathon team. We had big ambitions, but success did not happen overnight. We failed a lot before we eventually found our rhythm. Over time, those losses became wins. We won almost 20 hackathons in two years and kept coming in second at big national competitions, including the Smart India Hackathon.
It was during this continuous cycle of building and improving that I discovered the IET. I became a student member through my college, started participating in IET Smart City challenges, and began to understand the scale and impact of this vast global network.
A pivotal moment came in 2025, when, with strong encouragement from a mentor, I applied for the IET India Scholarship Award, not entirely sure what would come of it. After clearing the online rounds, I travelled to Chennai for the South Zone 2 regional finals. My goal that day was just to give it my best. Winning the regional round was not even on my radar. Walking out of the venue, I felt an overwhelming sense of pride, but also a newfound sense of responsibility. I knew I had to push even harder at the nationals.
The national finals brought both excitement and a healthy dose of stress. I was presenting HEKIO, an AI-integrated, solar-powered healthcare kiosk I had helped develop. It functions as a pre-diagnostic tool, analysing volatile organic compounds in a patient's breath to screen for chronic diseases in rural areas where immediate healthcare access remains limited.
The stakes felt incredibly high, especially when I realised all my fellow finalists were women. It is always an honour and a formidable challenge to compete alongside high-performing women in engineering. With a racing heart but a steady focus, I presented my work to a panel of nearly ten jury members. Stepping out of that room, I just felt a massive wave of relief to have the hardest part behind me.
Being selected among the top five out of 44,000 applicants felt surreal. Winning the award itself is still difficult to put into words. When my name was announced, I only had one thought: my parents deserve to hold this award before I do. They raised a child and let her explore, fail, learn, and try all over again without a single complaint. They always had my back, so I had them receive it. That moment that shall easily top my top three proudest moments of my entire life.
Walking out of that room, I wasn’t just representing myself, my team, or my friends; I felt I was representing an entire community of empowered women in engineering. I wanted every woman watching to believe that if I could achieve this, she could achieve even more.
My journey with the IET over the last two years has been deeply meaningful. The IET does more than provide a platform; it fosters a respectful, inclusive and encouraging environment where members are supported to grow. Every connection I’ve made here has supported my new endeavours.
Today, alongside the very same team I met during my early hackathon days, I am building a startup called Voira. We develop impactful, technology-driven solutions for the enterprise space, with a strong focus on human-centric conversational AI. Our voice agents are designed to replace frustrating, static IVR systems, enabling natural and empathetic conversations that reduce customer wait times and help organisations scale more efficiently.
Every lesson I’ve learned about resilience, innovation, and community through my IET journey continues to shape my work today. The personal growth and opportunities you gain from being part of the IET network are unparalleled. I hope to see more students and young professionals taking advantage of this incredible resource.
To anyone reading this, whether you are a prospective volunteer, a student looking to find your footing, or an innovator ready to build, take the leap. A wonderfully supportive community is waiting for you here.