I’m Shravan Kaundinya!

I am from Bangalore, Karnataka, India and currently reside in Lawrence, Kansas, USA. I am a PhD candidate in the Electrical Engineering department and work as a Radar Systems Engineer at the Center for Remote Sensing and Integrated Systems (CReSIS) at the University of Kansas. My work involves designing, building, and deploying radar systems to remotely sense the polar regions. I have worked on both manned and unmanned airborne systems and ground-based traverse systems.

I am lucky to have flown over the North Pole and set foot at the South Pole!

My Master's project entailed the building of a miniaturized radar integrated into an Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) helicopter for high-resolution mapping of soil moisture (or snow layers). Additionally, I worked on NASA's Operation IceBridge (OIB) and flew on 8 missions in Northern Greenland (from Thule AFB) and Alaska (from Fairbanks) in March-April 2018. One of the missions included a flight over the North Pole! I operated the Snow radar which is the larger original of my Master's miniaturized version.

As part of OIB, I also built a new antenna array for the MCoRDS system on the Gulfstream V aircraft. This modified system was deployed to Antarctica in October 2019. One of the perks of working as an engineer is the opportunity to travel to NASA bases at Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia and Ellington Airfield, Houston, Texas. Even as students we helped in installing and uninstalling the radar system on the aircrafts in the hangar.

I am inspired and grateful that my work takes me to incredible places around the planet and meet fantastic people.

My PhD project entails the building of a large, high-power radar on the Basler DC-3 aircraft for the Center for Oldest Ice Exploration (COLDEX). The goal is to provide high-resolution images of the internal ice layers near the South Pole that aid in the center's goal to find the oldest continuous ice record (> 1 million years). I participated in fieldwork during the 2022 and 2023 Austral summers, where I went to the South Pole and flew 20 missions in total on the Basler. Additionally, I also designed and built a sled antenna system for the GHOST (ITGC) project, which was deployed to WAIS Divide for the same seasons. A version of this sled system will be deployed near the South Pole for COLDEX in the 2024 and 2025 Austral summer seasons.

I am inspired and grateful that my work takes me to incredible places around the planet and meet fantastic people. I am lucky to have flown over the North Pole and set foot at the South Pole! Polar Science can offer incredible life experiences and enrich memories. But, my primary motivation stems from the realization that my effort facilitates climate science. I take pride in being able to create a tool to study the Earth and help humans.

Finally, stepping foot and experiencing the cold is something I'll never forget.

Music is a huge part of my identity! I actively seek new sounds and pride myself on having an eclectic taste. I play the guitar and love to jam! (Right after I make time to practice the guitar; right after I first make time to read the books that I keep buying irresponsibly.) I love live music and go to concerts as often as I can. Fun fact: Metallica is the only band to play a concert in Antarctica!

I truly enjoy travelling and seek new experiences. I look forward to the places themselves but also interactions with people. I have found that most people in Polar Science are outdoorsy people in their own unique way. I enjoy hiking and camping!

My personal connection happened when I visited the polar region for the first time in March 2018. I flew on a DC-8 rotator aircraft from Baltimore to Pituffik Space Base (previously Thule Air Force Base). I remember the sun rising as we were approaching Thule and I got a glimpse of the Greenland ice sheet for the first time. Nothing can truly prepare oneself for the sheer magnitude and beauty of the snow and ice. This was the same feeling flying near the Trans-Antarctic mountains on the LC-130 in December 2023. Finally, stepping foot and experiencing the cold is something I'll never forget. The coldest I've experienced until now is -40 C/F with -52 C/-63 F wind chill at the South Pole.

A life goal is to visit as many UNESCO World Heritage Sites as possible. When travelling, I often ensure that I visit a local museum and spend several hours with the exhibits. Of course, this is bookended by visits to the local coffee shops as I have recently found myself in the depths of coffee snobbery.

I am adventurous with food and readily seek out new tastes (massive sweet tooth here). I love and admire stand-up comedy as an art form. I watch multiple sports and sometimes play soccer and pool.

My family and friends are proud of my involvement and achievements. They follow and support every step of my journey. I am extremely grateful and thankful for them and all the people around me!

My dream job is to work on satellite radars! Remote sensing the Earth would be great but being able to work on a radar for, say, Jupiter's or Saturn's moons would be spectacular. But, I can settle for Mars too.

A life goal is to visit as many UNESCO World Heritage Sites as possible. When travelling, I often ensure that I visit a local museum and spend several hours with the exhibits. Of course, this is bookended by visits to the local coffee shops as I have recently found myself in the depths of coffee snobbery.

I am adventurous with food and readily seek out new tastes (massive sweet tooth here). I love and admire stand-up comedy as an art form. I watch multiple sports and sometimes play soccer and pool.

My family and friends are proud of my involvement and achievements. They follow and support every step of my journey. I am extremely grateful and thankful for them and all the people around me!

My dream job is to work on satellite radars! Remote sensing the Earth would be great but being able to work on a radar for, say, Jupiter's or Saturn's moons would be spectacular. But, I can settle for Mars too.

Nothing can truly prepare oneself for the sheer magnitude and beauty of the snow and ice.

I take pride in being able to create a tool to study the Earth and help humans.

I have found that I take some kind of inspiration from everyone around me. My mentors, teachers, and family have been significant inspirations and primary motivators. They influenced and convinced me to pursue a path of academic research and eventually graduate school. But, different parts of life require different kinds of inspiration and the various people around oneself can offer them. The friendly competitiveness among my friends inspired me to give all my effort and pursue the study and exams needed to get into grad school. Reading about other people's efforts in books and documentaries served as inspiration for aiming higher. Most importantly, the attitude of being open minded and being comfortable with making mistakes (or being wrong) was key to my development.

Follow Shravan on social media at @ShravanRK6 (X), @ShravanRK (Instagram), and on Facebook/LinkedIn at Shravan Kaundinya!