Monte Vista High School · Class of 2027

Kanishk
Sastry

Intended major: Engineering

I sketch cars in pencil, build things that move, and write the software that reads what a vehicle is doing. When I'm not in the shop, I'm playing cello and bass.

See my engineering work Open the sketchbook
Kanishk standing beside a screen showing the title slide 'Virya CAN Insight, by Kanishk Sastry'

Summer 2025

Presenting CAN Insight at the end of my internship at Virya Autonomous Technologies

Internship

Virya Autonomous Technologies

Engineering intern, summer 2025

Orchestra

Contra Costa Chamber Orchestra

Cellist since 2024

Competition

Destination Imagination

1st & 2nd regional · 4th at state

Coursework

AP Physics C · AP Calculus AB

Plus dual-enrollment college courses

01 — About

Cars are the thread.

Kanishk at a desk sketching car designs on paper next to a laptop
Sketching vehicle concepts.

Almost everything I make comes back to how vehicles work. I fill notebooks with pencil drawings of cars. I built a working 1/10-scale engine to see how a powertrain fits together, and when one of its parts broke, I redesigned it in CAD and 3D-printed a replacement.

In summer 2025 I interned at Virya Autonomous Technologies, where I built CAN Insight, a tool that decodes and plots a vehicle's CAN bus data. The company adopted it for everyday use. Learning that modern vehicles are as much software as hardware is why I'm also interested in computer engineering.

Music is the other half of my week. I play cello in the Contra Costa Chamber Orchestra, and bass and cello in Entropy, a nonprofit band that performs Indian music at community events.

Relevant coursework

AP Physics C: Mechanics AP Calculus AB AP Computer Science Principles AP Statistics Honors Physics Honors Chemistry Honors Chamber Orchestra Dual enrollment: MGMT 101, BUS 101, CNEE 101

02 — Featured work · Internship

CAN Insight

A CAN data decoder built during my engineering internship at Virya Autonomous Technologies, June–July 2025.

Vehicles talk to themselves over a CAN bus: a stream of short messages, each tagged with a hexadecimal ID. Test engineers need to pull the signals they care about out of that stream quickly. I built a web tool that does it.

  • Developed an automated CAN data decoder in React and Vite that filters telemetry in real time and plots the data for automotive engineering tests.
  • Converted and interpreted CAN IDs from hexadecimal to decimal, working with Excel-based signal configuration files.
  • The tool was adopted for company-wide use at Virya.
  • Worked full-time alongside 10+ engineers and presented the finished tool.
ReactViteJavaScriptCAN busHex ↔ decimalExcel signal configsData plotting

Try it · CAN ID converter

one small piece of what the tool does

Decimal

Frame type

Binary bits

Kanishk typing on a laptop with code open in an editor
Heads-down in the code during the internship.

Also at Virya

Autonomous airport runway sweeper (concept)

I designed and presented a concept for an autonomous vehicle that keeps airport runways clear, applying mechanical design and autonomous-system principles to a real maintenance problem. I worked through the engineering design process, from defining the problem to prototyping ideas and iterating.

03 — Builds & projects

Things I've made

Physical builds, school projects and software. Open any card for photos and details.

04 — Music

Cello and bass

Classical cello in a chamber orchestra, and bass guitar in a band that brings Indian music to community stages. Click any photo to see it larger.

Cello

In the orchestra

Contra Costa Chamber Orchestra

Cellist · Oct 2024 – present

A nonprofit chamber orchestra where I rehearse weekly and perform classical repertoire alongside experienced adult musicians at 8+ concerts a year. I've also mentored other members and helped lead rehearsals.

Honors Chamber Orchestra

Cello · Monte Vista High School

School orchestra, taken alongside my AP and honors classes.

Bass guitar

In the band

Entropy

Bassist & cellist · Jun 2023 – present

A nonprofit band that celebrates Indian music through live shows: 10+ community events reaching 2,000+ people. I help arrange the music and teach instruments to newer members.

05 — Sketchbook

Cars, in pencil

All graphite, on ruled notebook, graph and printer paper. Several place the car inside a full scene, where the house or façade behind it has to agree with the car's perspective. Click a drawing to see it larger.

graphite on paper

06 — Milestones

Achievements, work & service

Competitions, recognition, jobs and volunteering, newest first.

4th

at state, Destination Imagination

1st

and 2nd place at regionals

2,000+

people reached through Entropy shows

15+

competitive tennis tournaments

Outside the shop

Competitive tennisGolfStock investing with my dadHome furniture building

    07 — Contact

    Let's talk.

    Questions about a project, the internship, or music? I'd be glad to hear from you.