Computer engineering major Ishita Pai Raikar doesn’t take days off.
Pai Raikar, who is also minoring in philosophy and cognitive science, is the corporate chair for Women in Electrical & Computer Engineering, a Grand Challenge Scholar, a Social Innovation Fellow, an Oaks Leadership Scholar and an intern at Future World Alliance.
Pai Raikar is also the second runner-up Miss India USA 2023.
“I personally am super passionate about blending engineering, research, social innovation, entrepreneurship and arts into a harmonist purpose,” Pai Raikar said. “I see such opportunities like the pageant as a platform to amplify this purpose. I truly believe NC State University is big on promoting this.”
The pageants — Miss India USA, Mrs. India USA and Miss Teen India USA — featured 57 contestants from multiple states. All three focus on Indian women residing in the United States. There are gown portions, introductions and more.
Miss India USA also included a talent portion, for which Pai Raikar showcased dance. She is a professional Indian classical dancer with 15 years of experience. She recorded the narration for the talent portion of the competition herself at an NC State library.
“I wanted to give a social message, so my story started off with a girl coming of age, growing up in a kingdom,” she explained. “She trains to be a warrior princess, but then societal opinions about what women should do in this world obstruct her. She’s kind of lost until she hears a goddess from within her. That gives her power and strength.”
Though unintentional, Pai Raikar conceded that the message of her dance applies to what it is like for her to be a woman in STEM, especially managing as much as she does.
“Managing time is a million dollar question,” she said with a laugh. She added that during the fall semester, she was in a pageant the week of finals. She ended up postponing one of her tests with the support of her professor.
Pai Raikar, who grew up in India and Singapore, has been participating in theater since she was a little girl. Her parents were convinced she would be a performer.
Instead, she went into engineering.
“I really feel fueled by the passion that so many different interests and ideas could come together to build something even greater,” she said. “So on campus, I’ve been also involved with the entrepreneurship department, specifically, the Social Innovation Fellows. So I’m part of that and that also kind of always keeps me curious and engaged in thinking about what problems can be solved from the resources that we have.”
While she plans to pursue artistic endeavors for years to come, Pai Raikar’s main career interest is AI ethics.
“I hope to delve deeper into the Ph.D. side of it,” she said. “More research. That’s currently the plan, but we’ll see how things turn out.”
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