Tesla, as well all know is an American electric vehicle and clean energy company based in Palo Alto, California. In the global industrial map, this company started by Billionaire Elon Musk needs no introduction. The manufacturer of Roadster cars, an all-electric battery-powered four-seater sports car capable of 0 to 60 mph (0 to 97 km/h) in 1.9 seconds, which would be quicker than any street-legal production car and the company which revolutionised the concept of electric cars in the world market.
Now consider getting hired at Tesla, deemed a dream job of Engineers. No wonder Vadakara based Nikita's story is inspiring. Nikita, a student of Kochi Thrikkakara Model Engineering college, has managed to achieve this feat without the background of an IIT degree makes it impressive. And yes, this is her first job!
Daughter of doctors Subrahmanya Malya and Lata Subrahmanya, Nikhitha studied at Vadakara Rani Public School till 10th grade and at Nirmala Matha Central School for Higher Secondary. She took Computer Science and Engineer at Model Engineering College and finished graduation in 2019. But a year before she had already proved her mettle in technology.
Attending the Grace Hopper Conference at Texas (USA) in 2018 turned out to be the turning point in her career. She was one of the three students from India who was selected for his conference. The conference is a series of conferences designed to bring the research and career interests of women in computing to the forefront. It is the world's largest gathering of women in computing. The Anita Borg Institute offers scholarships to undergraduate and graduate students to attend the conference.
The scholarship includes individual registration for the three-day conference, travel expenses, hotel accommodations as well as stipends. Nikita also got a scholarship. Every year around 800 students are offered this scholarship to students who want to make a mark in the field of technology.
This conference opened a whole new world of opportunities for Nikhitha and made her aware of the infinite career possibilities in front of her. She also met Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Priscilla Chan, co-founder, and CEO of Facebook.
She is the first one from Kerala to bag this scholarship. According to Nikita, it’s fairly easy to apply for this scholarship. First, you have to send an application attaching your resume along with a detailed writeup about your projects and why you are participating in this conference. You also need to attach a recommendation letter with this.
It was through this conference that Nikita came to know in detail about the field called Product Management. Product Management is an area that is a merger of Business, Technology, and design. Post the conference Nikhitha had a clear vision about her career and decided to pursue a degree in Product Management in the US. She also participated in Harvard University’s Conference which was called Harvard Project for Asian and International Relations.
Nikita finished her master’s at IVY league Columbia University Engineer School and Columbia Business School. Nikita struggled to find an internship as part of the studies because of Covid. She sent applications to over 150 institutes, including google. Though she was called for an interview at Google, she failed at the interview. But eventually, Tesla called her and offered her an internship. After 7 months of internship and master’s, she decided to start her career at Tesla. Nikita hopes to become an entrepreneur in the future.