Rajeev Sobhitha was at home in Kerala, India, when he met SUNY New Paltz professor Damodaran Radhakrishnan. Professor Radhakrishnan told Rajeev about the many research opportunities that New Paltz had to offer and encouraged him to attend.

A graduate student in the School of Science and Engineering (SSE), Rajeev now works with another faculty member in the department, Professor Farmarz Vaziri, studying and researching wireless communication.

Rajeev's research focuses on speech compression; the coding and decoding of speech in algorithms for wireless communication devices such as computers and cell phones. He is writing his thesis on this topic and will present it at the end of this academic year.

As a past president and active member of the New Paltz Indian Association, Rajeev helps other Indian students establish themselves here as well as maintain ties to their Indian culture through enriching activities and events, much like professor Radhakrishnan has done for Rajeev.

Interests: playing tennis, cooking with friends, traveling
Inspired: By how things work
Goals: After graduating Rajeev hopes to get a job in research development