Divya Karunanithi is GAPSA's 2016-2017 Chair for International Affairs. Divya is a second year Master’s student in Electrical Engineering at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Prior to coming to Penn, she was pursuing her Bachelor’s in Electrical and Electronics Engineering in India. She is currently focusing on Integrated Circuits and Nanodevices and plans to work for an electronics industry upon graduation.

Having been a part of student government organizations right from her middle school, Divya has a good experience in catering to the needs of the students and serving as an effective link between the student and administrative bodies. Last year, Divya served as a representative of GSEG (Graduate Student Engineering Group) at GAPSA’s General Assembly and was also a part of the International Affairs Committee.

Being an international student herself, Divya can correlate with the general issues faced by a majority of the international students at Penn. As the Chair of International Affairs, she hopes to bridge the ethnic differences between the various minority groups on campus while empowering them at the same time. She regularly attends the Round-Table Meetings, co-hosted by the AIS, ISAB, ISSS, and UA, and works closely with Penn Global to help execute strategies to solve the issues faced by the international student community. Divya is very excited to continue her association with GAPSA and is looking forward to serve Penn’s international graduate and professional students.

Fun Fact: Divya does not agree with ‘Always think positive, be positive and stay positive’. As an Electrical Engineer, she says, “Both positive and negative terminals are needed for electricity”!

If you identify as an international student, have an interest in international affairs, or have any questions, please feel free to contact Divya at gapsa.ia@gmail.com.

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