Avani Ahuja, a recent Indian American graduate of the Departments of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Mechanical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has received the 2026 Henry Ford II Scholar Award.
The award honors a senior undergraduate student who is in high academic standing and shows exceptional potential for leadership in the profession of engineering and in society.
During her time at MIT, Ahuja from Short Hills, New Jersey, has conducted research in the Coday Research group, where she focused on investigating capacitive wireless power transfer, which could have potential applications in charging electric vehicles and implantable medical devices.
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“My most significant experiences at MIT have included engaging in research, whether it was women’s health research under Professor Canan Dagdeviren in the MIT Media Lab, robotics research under Professor Sangbae Kim, or power electronics research under Professor Samantha Coday,” Ahuja said. “I’ve also really enjoyed engaging in the extracurricular opportunities on campus, whether it was through participating in the MIT Ohms, through MIT LIVE, or the line dancing lessons in the student center.”
This fall, Ahuja will be pursuing a PhD in power electronics in the Coday Research Group at MIT’s Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.
“I hope to apply power electronics to the women’s health research space one day after completing a PhD,” she said.
Ahuja credits many people she has interacted with during her time at MIT for impacting her journey, particularly her mentor Samantha Coday and Canan Dagdeviren, associate professor of media arts and sciences in the MIT Media Lab who inspired her love for women’s health research.
Earlier as an undergraduate research assistant in Conformable Decoders Research Group, she designed and fabricated the electrical and mechanical components of a conformable ultrasound breast patch to help make a breast ultrasound more user-friendly and ultimately help diagnose breast cancer.
When asked what receiving the Henry Ford II Scholar Award means to her, Ahuja said, “I am honored and overjoyed to receive this award.”