Rishita Wairagade: Undergraduate Student

Degree Program: Computer Science, B.S.

Department: Computer Science and Engineering

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/rishita-wairagade

Rishita Wairagade is a second year computer science major at the Baskin School of Engineering. Last year, due to the pandemic, she was fully remote. She is making up for lost time by participating in on-campus research and serving as an ambassador for the Baskin Engineering Student Ambassador program, where she answers questions about the school of engineering and provides tours to prospective students and their families. 

Why the Baskin School of Engineering?

First of all, I really liked all the resources available at Baskin Engineering. As a research university, UCSC provides a lot of research opportunities for its students, and Baskin Engineering does a great job of providing research opportunities for all of its engineering students. As a computer science major, it can be hard to apply computer science to research at times, especially at the undergraduate level. It’s not something I thought I could do as a CS student, but I was really surprised to see how many research opportunities there are available at UCSC for my major.

Are you doing any research right now?

I am currently a web development research assistant working with basic needs resources on campus.

What’s been your favorite class so far?

My favorite class so far has been CSE 30, Programming Abstractions: Python. The material was challenging yet very applicable to industry today. We used the programming language Python. The class covered a wide range of topics and how we can apply Python to emerging technologies, one being Artificial Intelligence. 

What has being a part of the Baskin Engineering Student Ambassador (BESA) program been like so far?

I applied in the spring and was hired in the summer. In the beginning of fall quarter, I partook in a training session, which got us acquainted with campus and the engineering buildings. We also learned about every major at Baskin Engineering so we can answer questions during tours. It’s been fun to get to know more about Baskin Engineering and all the majors available, especially because this is my first year being on campus. 

What’s something you enjoy doing outside of school?

I like to hike as much as I can with my family. We usually visit a new national park for family vacations. My favorite national park that I’ve visited so far would be either Yellowstone or Death Valley National Park.