👋Hi! I’m Sasha :)
My goal is to understand how the world works, so that I can build something to change it.
Currently doing this by making batteries cheaper via improved battery management systems.
What I’ve worked on over the past few years
<aside> 🚲 Transportation in Tanzania March 2023 - Present
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Along with 2 team members, I realized that a lack of transportation was a major contributing factor to poverty in Tanzania. We identified an economically viable way to bring motorcycles to rural Tanzania, helping accelerate people out of poverty.
This project is still in its early stages, but we’ve already grown the team and hope to travel to Tanzania and implement a pilot, pending funding and validation!
<aside> 🔋 Battery Longevity September 2023 - Present
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I received a $1000 USD grant from Emergent Ventures to work on battery management systems to increase the lifespan of lithium ion batteries. This would help to decrease both the cost, and the amount of battery waste we have!
Batteries age mainly because they are operated in harsh conditions (extreme temperatures, overcharged, overdischarged). By avoiding these harsh conditions, we can make the battery last longer. To avoid the harsh conditions, we need accurate information about the battery- things like state of charge (SOC) and state of health (SOH). These can’t be directly measured, and so have to be estimated.
I estimated battery state of charge (SOC) using a machine learning algorithm called an Extended Kalman filter (EKF). This project taught me a ton about circuitry, programming, and systems thinking, and gave me deep technical knowledge in battery management systems.
https://youtu.be/EO3NNHc-09Y?si=Yx-b5Q1KPoJwcOtB
<aside> <img src="https://prod-files-secure.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/f8ef5fd8-5d43-465c-95fe-db781bbe283d/5f3592d1-eba4-4c78-9bcd-3a98a2b4b61d/Screenshot_2024-01-17_at_2.03.10_PM.png" alt="https://prod-files-secure.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/f8ef5fd8-5d43-465c-95fe-db781bbe283d/5f3592d1-eba4-4c78-9bcd-3a98a2b4b61d/Screenshot_2024-01-17_at_2.03.10_PM.png" width="40px" /> World Summit AI April 2024
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I was invited to speak at World Summit AI about how AI can be leveraged to improve battery technology!!
I explained how we can use AI to get the most out of our existing batteries, helping to drive the costs down (and then scale up renewables).
I learned a lot about engaging delivery, and how to deliver a compelling story.
<aside> <img src="https://prod-files-secure.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/f8ef5fd8-5d43-465c-95fe-db781bbe283d/4323be25-9a46-47ba-822f-77e0004d4640/Shell_logo.svg.png" alt="https://prod-files-secure.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/f8ef5fd8-5d43-465c-95fe-db781bbe283d/4323be25-9a46-47ba-822f-77e0004d4640/Shell_logo.svg.png" width="40px" /> Shell February - March 2024
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Along with 3 teammates, I worked alongside Shell to identify and propose an economically incentivized solution to reduce Shell’s carbon emissions.
We proposed a solution to automate supplier data collection, which we calculated would have resulted in $10 billion in savings, along with 6 million employee hours and 46.2 million tonnes of CO2 emissions abated. Shell ultimately decided not to move forward with implementing this project.
While creating this deck, I learned a lot about aligning incentives, economic analysis, and creating shareholder value.
<aside> 💻 Battery Simulations October 2023
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Along with 3 other teammates, I participated in and won a 24 hour hackathon. We pitched a platform to simulate non-lithium ion batteries to accelerate R&D in the battery industry.
Pre-made simulation software to test batteries exists only for lithium-based chemistries, which means non-lithium based batteries are being held back. Simulation software can accelerate research, taking only 1/20th of the time and costing 25% less.
I learned how to understand a technical solution, very quickly, and how to work effectively under pressure.
<aside> 🌑 Coulomb March 2023 - August 2023
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When astronauts to go the moon, they must wear a space suit. Space suits cost upwards of $15M apiece.
Lunar dust is sticky, tiny, and sharp. It can clog joints and sensors, rip the space suit, and even cause suit failure (🤯)! After talking to people in the space, it was clear there was a need for a solution to mitigate this problem.
My partner and I designed a coating that would help prevent lunar dust abrasion.
Our coating was made of ATSP-PTFE with embedded carbon nanotubes. We even worked in a lab at York University last summer to build a prototype! However, we ran into issues with the health hazards of working with simulated lunar dust and carbon nanotubes so this project was discontinued.
I gained experience in trying to scale something from theory to reality. I also got experience working in a real lab!
Coulomb Experimental Proposal .pdf
https://youtu.be/HnimRZ4kT3A?si=V3y2GKUwgSKLdpBu
<aside> ⚡ Themoelectic generators July 2023
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Continuing with my interest in material science, I decided to build a thermoelectric generator, which generates electricity from a temperature difference. I was able to generate about 2.4V!
As I was researching this project, I found that the efficiency of these generators is very low. So, I also wrote about what properties the materials in a more efficient generator would need, in technical depth.
I learned a lot about making sense of deep technical papers quickly by making connections, and how to be scrappy when I encountered a roadblock.
<aside> <img src="https://prod-files-secure.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/f8ef5fd8-5d43-465c-95fe-db781bbe283d/2ea07c68-3ae5-42a1-b7b5-1ad90d568611/Screenshot_2024-05-13_212231.png" alt="https://prod-files-secure.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/f8ef5fd8-5d43-465c-95fe-db781bbe283d/2ea07c68-3ae5-42a1-b7b5-1ad90d568611/Screenshot_2024-05-13_212231.png" width="40px" /> A Seat at the Table June 2023- Present
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My co-host and I started a podcast where we aim to share the stories of women in science and technology.
We’ve been able to speak with people such as Shini Somara, Danielle Strachman, and many more!!
I learned a tremendous amount about asking good questions and effective communication, as well as collaboration on a longer timescale.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/4JAPDXNLL3uC7MKyGKRDJZ?si=059893fca2c648d1
https://open.spotify.com/episode/4Lu52ha2d15PPJ2prj1eZP?si=f4450b733fbd4aa2
https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/tks-life-prod.appspot.com/o/items%2FKsN12UMfsPbQ5OYZlmiIeHJ7Sxa2%2FLithos One Pager.pdf?alt=media&token=166573ea-84c3-460e-bf4b-47216adbf843
Lithos: Fueling Innovation through Sustainability
<aside> <img src="https://prod-files-secure.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/f8ef5fd8-5d43-465c-95fe-db781bbe283d/cf22dba8-4e1a-499b-a247-f257d7cde57f/Screenshot_2024-05-13_205218.png" alt="https://prod-files-secure.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/f8ef5fd8-5d43-465c-95fe-db781bbe283d/cf22dba8-4e1a-499b-a247-f257d7cde57f/Screenshot_2024-05-13_205218.png" width="40px" /> Lithos April - May 2023
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After researching barriers to renewable adoption, 3 teammates and I discovered the problem of lithium ion battery waste. 95% of all lithium ion batteries end up in landfills.
Lithos, our solution, helps improve the economic feasibility of recycling this battery waste by solving a major bottleneck - pack to cell disassembly.
We use computer vision, robotics, and pyro-hydrometallurgy to automate the disassembly process and recover the valuable materials. We calculated that this would increase efficiency by 10X and decrease the costs by 70%!
Unfortunately, due to the current technological limitations of robotics, this project was not implemented.
I learned a lot about networking, and communicating technical depth clearly.
<aside> <img src="https://prod-files-secure.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/f8ef5fd8-5d43-465c-95fe-db781bbe283d/3250f1a7-54aa-4410-b505-a6361fe280c1/mastercard_logo.jpg" alt="https://prod-files-secure.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/f8ef5fd8-5d43-465c-95fe-db781bbe283d/3250f1a7-54aa-4410-b505-a6361fe280c1/mastercard_logo.jpg" width="40px" /> MasterCard Foundation January 2023 - March 2023
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Ghana’s agricultural sector is declining, and land is becoming non-arable. Along with 3 teammates, I worked alongside the MasterCard Foundation to propose a two-pronged solution involving agricultural education and drip irrigation. We calculated it would result in 2.6 million sustainable jobs created and a 90% increase in yields.
I was project manager, and I learned how to effectively manage teams, as well as the value of talking to your users.
If you’re curious to learn more about the week-over-week progress, here’s the links to my LinkedIn, X, and Substack :)
