A biomedical engineer and musician
Currently, Sriya attends Harvard, where she is getting her masters degree in biomedical informatics.
When the Surapaneni family moved to the Amber Ridge neighborhood in 2009, Castle Pines gained a superstar. Sriya Surapaneni, now 22, joined the ranks of first graders at Timber Trail Elementary and became an integral part of the community. Sriya participated in countless organizations and extracurriculars, setting herself up for her educational journey at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) without forgoing any of her performing arts and sports passions. Today, Sriya is at Harvard University pursing her masters degree in biomedical informatics and doing a research thesis on machine-learning models that continuously analyze breast cancer progression.
Growing up, Sriya did not let a moment go to waste.
At the age of 3, Sriya began playing violin and piano. At 6, she started singing Indian classical music and later picked up the oboe. Sriya played violin throughout elementary school before joining the Rocky Heights Middle School orchestra. Her freshman year, Sriya was the Rock Canyon High School’s (RCHS) string orchestra concertmaster, and her sophomore year, she moved up to chamber orchestra. By the time she graduated from RCHS in 2021, she was vice president of orchestra, with two musicals in the pit orchestra under her belt. In addition to violin, Sriya sang in the choir in seventh and ninth grade. Singing has remained Sriya’s passion—she joined two a cappella groups while at Georgia Tech and now sings solo in Boston.
Aside from music, Sriya played soccer and basketball, as well as participated in programs like the Castle Pines Junior Youth Group and the MathCounts club. By the time she got to RCHS, Sriya was involved in Science Olympiad, the Tri-M Music Honor Society and was the founder and president of the Mu Alpha Theta Math Honor Society.
In Sriya’s senior year at RCHS, she placed second in Health Occupations Students of America’s state competition and was the science National Honor Society’s treasurer. With her younger sister Bhavya, she started a tutoring business.
No surprise, Sriya went on to achieve even more in college. She received her undergraduate degree from Georgia Tech in biomedical engineering with a minor in computer science. She received the Helen Grenga Award for leadership, inclusivity and academic excellence ––Georgia Tech’s highest award. She also mentored women in STEM for the Society of Women Engineers.
The Surapaneni family moved to Amber Ridge in 2009; parents Srini and Madhavi are both engineers, advocating for their daughters, Bhavya (7), left, and Sriya (9), to be involved in STEM.
Sriya Surapaneni, pictured here at age 7, played violin from 3 years old until high school graduation.
By Marly Holsman; photos courtesy of Sriya Surapaneni
