Yanik Jhaveri

Global Challenge: Make Solar Energy Economical

Bio:

Yanik is a junior studying Electrical Engineering at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering with a minor in Finance. He's drawn to where business, finance, and technology meet — especially in power engineering, where he's interested in how renewable energy and emerging technologies can make our energy systems more sustainable. Outside academics, travel is one of his biggest passions: during his semester abroad in Paris, he visited over 10 countries, soaking up different cultures, exploring new cities, and trying local foods along the way. In his free time, he plays racquet sports like tennis and pickleball, competes in Pokémon and Valorant tournaments, and enjoys card games with friends.

At NYU, Yanik takes on several roles that let him explore different sides of engineering and leadership: he's Captain of NYU Concrete Canoe, Events Coordinator for NYU SASE, and a member of the Hardware Design Team for NYU ARC Robotics. As Concrete Canoe Captain, he leads a multidisciplinary team through design, construction, and competition while coordinating subteams, managing resources, and mentoring newer members. He has also served as an NYU Orientation Leader, welcoming incoming students and introducing them to the NYU community. Through these roles, he's sharpened his ability to lead diverse teams, communicate effectively, delegate responsibilities, and help others grow into larger roles.

Professionally, his experience spans engineering, finance, and technology: researching battery storage and photovoltaics at RaRe Enterprises, developing assistive technology in South Korea, and exploring AI applications within the jewelry industry. These roles have built his skills in technical research, engineering design, financial and market analysis, product development, and communicating complex ideas clearly. After graduation, he hopes to work in power engineering or a related renewable energy field, bringing together his electrical engineering background with his interest in finance and business. Long term, he wants to help make sustainable energy technologies more practical, scalable, and economically viable.

Through NYU, Yanik has studied and worked across several different cultural environments. He spent a semester abroad at NYU Paris, where living in France deepened his understanding of French culture, history, architecture, and everyday life, and sparked an interest in how France approaches sustainability and renewable energy — letting him compare its energy transition with what he'd learned about the U.S. and India. Beyond France, he traveled to over 10 countries during the semester, picking up new perspectives across Europe along the way. More recently, he took part in a short-term NYU program in South Korea centered on sustainable development and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, working alongside Korean students, a technology company, and a local community to understand real-world challenges and develop potential solutions. Together, these experiences have made him more globally minded, showing him how differently communities and countries approach similar challenges — particularly around sustainability, technology, and development. This past year, Yanik also completed several GLASS components: Leadership Development through his role with Concrete Canoe, Academic Excellence through his digital marketing work with the Global Career Accelerator, a Professional component through his various internships this summer, and two Global Competencies components drawn from his time abroad.

Being part of GLASS represents Yanik’s commitment to becoming a leader who uses his skills to create a positive impact on society. Through the program, he has gained deeper global perspectives on sustainability and has learned that challenges like climate change, urban development, and access to resources can look very different depending on the country and community. The UN Sustainable Development Goal that resonates most with him is SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities. Having grown up in Mumbai, a rapidly developing city, Yanik has seen firsthand both the opportunities that come with urban growth and the importance of making that growth sustainable. His experiences through GLASS, studying abroad, and traveling have also exposed him to how different cultures approach sustainability, infrastructure, energy, and development. In the future, Yanik hopes to take the ideas and approaches he learns from different countries and apply them through engineering and technology to help make his home country more sustainable and improve the lives of the communities within it.

In his downtime, Yanik can enthusiastically talk for hours about watch collecting, Star Wars lore, and the intricacies of competitive Pokémon. He has a deep love for Bollywood music, and plays the tabla, an Indian classical percussion instrument, through which he connects with his cultural roots.