Rishi Bala
Current freshman at the University of Texas at Austin
Austin, Texas / Millburn, New Jersey
Rishi Bala
Hi. I'm Rishi Bala.
I'm a freshman at UT Austin pursuing degrees in Electrical and Computer Engineering Honors and Business Honors under the Texas ECB program.
In the past couple of years, I've pursued multiple different hobbies and leadership positions, ranging from managing my school's newspaper as the editor-in-chief to leading our award-winning jazz band as the drummer. On the technical side, I've learnt to use different programming languages like Java, Python, C, and C++, while also teaching myself design softwares such as Fusion360 or SolidWorks. In high school, I dedicated much of my time to captaining my VEX robotics team, finishing second in the world, as well as working as a research intern at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, where I designed a nano-scale robotic assembly machine and co-authored a review paper on magnetotactic bacteria.
Currently at UT Austin, I am heavily involved with Longhorn Racing Electric, an organization competing in the Formula SAE Competition. I designed the car's thermal management system, wrote latency-optimized firmware for real-time data acquisition and live CAN-based telemetry, and built an automotive-grade wiring harness. Through these experiences, I've developed a strong interest in embedded systems and computer architecture, driven by a desire to understand how systems are built and optimized from the ground up.
Electronics Engineer
Longhorn Racing – Electric | August 2025 – Present
- Designed the car's thermal management system; implemented closed-loop fan control and flow rate regulation to optimize battery performance.
- Wrote latency-optimized firmware for real-time data acquisition and live CAN-based telemetry across all vehicle subsystems.
- Built and planned an automotive-grade wiring harness, including connector selection, crimping, and full vehicle integration.
- Selected for LHRe from a pool of 800+ UT applicants, representing a 5% acceptance rate.
VEX Robotics
Captain, Head Builder, Design, CAD | September 2021 – May 2025
- Captained a six-person VEX team; spent 20+ hours each week leading team meetings and mentoring younger students.
- Employed CAD software such as Autodesk Fusion 360; documented each robot iteration in an award-winning engineering notebook.
- 1x World Finalist, 1x Worlds Division Champion, 1x Worlds Division Finalist, 2x New Jersey Tournament Champion.
- Also served as a VEX IQ Instructor — teaching students basic robotics techniques and block coding throughout the year.
Physics and Mechanical Engineering Internship
NJIT Intern – Prof. Nuggehalli Ravindra and Prof. Balraj Mani | June 2024 – August 2024
- Worked as a primary author on two review papers detailing magnetotactic bacteria (MTB) and ferrofluids.
- Researched applications of MTB and magnetosomes; surveyed ferrofluid usage in cancer therapies.
- Utilized CAD to design and produce an array of milli-scale electromagnetic coils driven by H-bridges to control miniature robotic arms.
Portfolio
See my Github for the full code and in-depth writeups.
Thermal Sensor Module (TSM)
August 2025 – Present
- Led development of the TSM: an enclosure combining radiator fan control with integrated cooling loop and flow rate monitoring for the LHRe race car.
- Owned the full design cycle — component selection, schematic design, PCB layout, soldering, testing, and firmware development.
- Wrote latency-optimized firmware using FreeRTOS on an STM32 microcontroller; developed a CAN-based telemetry system for live data across all vehicle subsystems.
- Github Repository | Hardware Pictures
Embedded Shuffleboard
March 2026 – Present
- Designing a multiplayer embedded shuffleboard platform as the ECE319H (Embedded Systems) final project.
- Implemented mixed-signal I/O, comparator logic with multiplexer selection, visual/auditory feedback, and an 8-segment display driver.
- Wrote embedded firmware in C to handle collision physics, input devices, and SPI communication with the LCD and speaker/amplifier.
- Github Repository | Hardware Pictures
YerraGlasses
December 2025 – March 2026
- Designed audio-augmented smart glasses using an ESP32-S3 and dual I2S Class-D audio amplifiers for real-time auditory feedback.
- Developed embedded ML using neural processing unit object detection to convert visual input into real-time audio cues.
- Created a custom space-constrained PCB and power system with USB-C, rail regulation, and I2S audio for low-latency operation.
- Github Repository | Hardware Pictures
6502 Breadboard Computer
August 2024 – December 2024
- Built a breadboard computer using the classic 6502 microprocessor.
- Programmed simple instructions and games in assembly.
- Created a custom clock module using a separate Arduino Uno; used an Arduino Mega to communicate with the 6502 computer.
- Utilized an EEPROM chip to store machine code and communicate with the processor; used several LCD displays and an array of electronics.
Word Hunt Robot
July 2024
- Created an Arduino robot using three servo motors to autonomously play the iMessage game Word Hunt.
- Runs on a Java program that builds a Trie data structure by parsing the entire Collins Dictionary, finding all possible words.
- Sends information through socket communication to a Python script and serial communication to the Arduino.
- Github Repository | Demonstration Video
JavaXchange
July 2023 – August 2023
- Developed a multithreaded stock market simulation that records transactions, matches BUY/SELL orders, and uses serialization to communicate with individual trading bots.
- Supports trading bots running strategies such as EWMA or RSI to maximize profit.
- Parsed a custom database built using the TwelveData API to create a Market Making Bot sending a new order every 10ms.
- Github Repository | Demonstration Video