Niveditha (Nivii) Kalavakonda (Ph.D. EE ‘25) and Devan Perkash (BSECE ‘25) will speak at this year’s Graduation Ceremony, which will take place in the Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion on Wednesday, June 11, from 7 to 9 p.m. Photo of Nivii Kalavakonda by Ryan Hoover / UW ECE
The University of Washington Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering is proud to announce that in addition to UW ECE alumna Thy Tran (BSEE ‘93), two outstanding students have been selected to speak at our 2025 Graduation Ceremony. Niveditha (Nivii) Kalavakonda (Ph.D. EE ‘25) will offer remarks on behalf of graduate students, and Devan Perkash (BSECE ‘25) will represent undergraduates. Kalavakonda and Perkash were selected for this honor because of their academic achievements, extracurricular activities, and service to the Department. This year’s Graduation Ceremony will take place in the Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion on Wednesday, June 11, from 7 to 9 p.m. The event will be presided over by UW ECE Professor and Chair Eric Klavins.
“I am thrilled to have such fine examples of students from our graduating class to be speaking at this year’s Graduation Ceremony,” Klavins said. “Nivii exemplifies going above and beyond, not only in her research, but also in her service and leadership roles outside of the classroom. I also think that Devan’s entrepreneurial activity and enthusiasm for using technology to better people’s lives is a great example of our students’ potential to impact the world in a positive way.”
Learn more about both students below.
Graduate student speaker
Niveditha (Nivii) Kalavakonda
(Ph.D. EE ‘25)
Niveditha (Nivii) Kalavakonda (Ph.D. EE ’25)
Nivii Kalavakonda is graduating with a doctoral degree in electrical engineering. Her research at UW ECE focused on developing an assistive robot for surgical suction that works cooperatively with a surgeon. She was advised by Professor Blake Hannaford and worked closely with Dr. Laligam Sekhar in UW Medicine. Kalavakonda was also part of the Science, Technology, and Society Studies program at the UW. She has held internships at Amazon, Apple, and NVIDIA.
Kalavakonda has received the Yang Outstanding Doctoral Student Award, the UW ECE Student Impact Award, and an Amazon Catalyst fellowship. She was selected to be part of the UW’s Husky 100, and she has been broadly recognized as part of the Robotics Science and Systems Pioneers and Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Rising Stars cohorts.
Kalavakonda was a predoctoral instructor for the ECE 543 Models of Robot Manipulation course. With the intention of supporting student wellness and success, Kalavakonda has also co-founded several initiatives at UW ECE, such as the Student Advisory Council; the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee; and the Future Faculty Preparation Program. After graduating, Kalavakonda will be seeking an academic position, where she hopes to continue working with students on robotics.
Undergraduate student speaker
Devan Perkash
(BSECE ‘25)
Devan Perkash (BSECE ’25)
Devan Perkash is graduating with a bachelor’s degree in electrical and computer engineering. At the UW, he specialized in machine learning and computer architecture, gaining practical experience through coursework and internships. His senior capstone project, done in partnership with Amazon, focused on quantizing large language models to run efficiently on edge devices, such as smartphones and laptops, bringing advanced artificial intelligence closer to end-users.
Perkash strongly believes that technology’s primary value lies in solving practical, real-world challenges. This belief fuels his passion for technological entrepreneurship. He took an active leadership role at the UW, serving as president of the Lavin Entrepreneurship Program, where he led over a hundred student entrepreneurs and managed resources dedicated to fostering successful startups. He also co-founded the UW Venture Capital Club, aiming to democratize access to venture capital knowledge and networks through initiatives, such as hosting speaker series with top Seattle-based venture capitalists.
After graduation, Perkash plans to deepen his knowledge by pursuing a master’s degree in electrical engineering and computer science at the University of California, Berkeley. There, he aims to gain deeper technical knowledge and entrepreneurial experience, preparing him to create technology solutions that positively impact people’s lives.