Pradit Kulshreshtha is a Penn State structural engineering master’s student. One year ago, he came to Penn State to pursue his goal to be an engineer.
Being an international student from India, Padit has experienced some cultural and language boundaries that have made communication hard for him. As music can heal people’s mind and strong buildings can allow people to survive, he uses his talents to help save people’s lives through music and structural engineering.
His mother has always been his inspiration in pursuing music, and he believes music is the best way to express his feelings.
“Over the years, my passion for music turned into my profession and I began performing at numerous locations across my country. It has been an absolutely amazing journey so far and I have received a lot of love and support from people. Although, I have had my fair share of struggles and tough times just like in the life of any other artist but the important note throughout my life has been that I have never stopped believing in myself,” said Pradit.
Pradit’s mission is to encourage Penn State students to embody the ‘We Are Penn State’ motto. He believes that in order to establish a strong student bond, people need to try to understand each other. In addition, it is important to be aware of our surroundings. If people are aware of others’ specialties, they can compliment each other’s strengths and weaknesses to build a strong community.
Pradit won the Ardith & Norman Frisbey International Student Award and invested the money into his project in the hope of unifying Penn State. He created a song, ’Together We Are One’ working with many artists around the world. He believes the song could inspire many young people to unite through their different cultures at Penn State.
While most people see buildings as just inanimate objects, engineers see them as if they are alive. For example, a building can twist and turn when those actions are necessary. Furthermore, just like an exhausted human, buildings somehow convey their message of, “I can’t take anymore loads.”
Pradit's office at the Sackett building. Photo by Min ShinAs a structural engineering major, Pradit thinks the value of his major is not emphasized enough to the general public, since he says they are not knowledgeable about science. Some people have trouble distinguishing between architecture and structural engineering;however, architecture gives face to the building from user-stand point and highlights the overall usability of buildings. On the other hand, structural engineering considers the life-safety view. Thus, bridging the gaps between architecture and structural engineering is important since both of them are components in a well-designed building.
With the innovation of structures, people can survive during natural disasters. Strong structural materials can save more lives, but technology itself is very expensive. Therefore, Pradit wants to create a framework where he could make the technology chapter for those who cannot afford it, in order to make their homes much safer.
Pradit wants to transcend boundaries, work together, and really make a difference at Penn State. Therefore, he thinks that this effort will make a positive difference at Penn State.
A link to Pradit’s song: “Together We Are One”
Video: How much ‘Together we are one’ means to you?
Keerti Prakash, Lee Juarez and Martin Nwodo are all coming from different countries. They are sharing their thoughts on international culture related to the Pradit’s project. The core value is that everyone needs to understand and embrace the diversity on campus.
From the left in the video: Keerti Prakash is from India, Lee Juarez is from California, and Martin Nwodo is from Nigeria.