Entrepreneurial-spirited graduate prioritizes social service

Editor’s note: This story is part of a series of profiles of notable fall 2022 graduates.

Since childhood, Rashmi Solanki’s parents encouraged her to participate in social service initiatives. These values, combined with her leadership acumen, kickstarted many opportunities for Solanki, including her educational journey at Arizona State University.

Solanki selected the management of technology master’s degree because she says it has “the perfect blend of soft skills like time management, articulated communication and ethical thinking, along with technical skills like the Business Model Canvas, project management, machine learning and data-driven decision-making.”

Solanki, who is Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certified, says she was able to thrive at ASU due to its diverse student body, international student-friendly campus and abundance of opportunities. She believes that the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering inspired her educational path by showing her that “imagination is more powerful than knowledge.”

Solanki’s passion for social service and leadership served her well as a member of the Technological and Entrepreneurship Management Advisory Board where she advocated for practical-based learning, enabling any ASU student to learn problem-solving, team building and technical skills more efficiently.

As a Graduate Professional Student Association representative, Solanki advocated for opportunities on behalf of engineering students — encouraging upskilling, social awareness and networking. That impact led her to earn a Graduate Professional Student Association leadership scholarship.

“One of my key accomplishments in this organization was to organize and conduct an event to help engineering students become more aware of the ASU resources available to them to encourage job readiness and employability,” Solanki says.

As an entrepreneurship and innovation coordinator for Changemaker Central at ASU, she led a hunger awareness initiative. Solanki and a team of students came up with innovative solutions for United Way, a nonprofit that mobilizes communities to help those in need.

Solanki says that Teaching Associate Professor Chad Kennedy encouraged her to explore new opportunities.

“He is a great listener and has a very creative and enthusiastic teaching style,” she says.

Equipped with a well-suited degree and a healthy appetite for learning, Solanki says she will continue to “be daring enough to try new opportunities” after graduation just as she did during her time at ASU. She looks forward to her role as a global industrial engineering program manager at NXP Semiconductors.

MORE: Read about other exceptional graduates of the Fulton Schools’ fall 2022 class