Harshita Sinha: Never stopping learning
Published 1:30 am Wednesday, May 6, 2026
The Washington STEM Rising Star Award recognizes outstanding young women who embrace STEM education, using their skills to drive innovation and create meaningful change in their communities.
Harshita Sinha was born into the STEM field, she said.
Her dad works as a software engineer, while her mom is a data scientist. Despite being immersed in science, technology, engineering and math from a young age, she was always given the choice, Sinha said in a video played at the Economic Alliance Snohomish County’s annual meeting.
Sinha was one of five individuals honored at the April 14 meeting. She received the Snohomish STEM Rising Star Award as one of 11 students recognized statewide.
While she was enrolled in multiple extracurricular activities, including dance and music, by the time she was 10 years old, she only remained in robotics.
Now, as an 11th-grade student at Lake Stevens High School, she remains involved with robotics while also participating in research and competitions.
Sinha plans to get her undergraduate degree in molecular biology before getting a doctorate and working as a clinical researcher, she told The Daily Herald in April.
“Medicine is always evolving,” she said. “It’s always changing, and that’s the best part of it for me because you never get to stop learning.”
Sinha’s interest in research was sparked when her medical science teacher recommended a career-exploration-style program around research, she said. Afterward, she became involved in science fairs.
“I decided to do my own science project, which was a lot of grueling work,” She said. “But I was able to, I guess, see how research works with that.”
Her project detailed “a combination therapeutic for Group 3 Medulloblastoma and some new computational biology tools,” Sinha said.
“Basically studying the genomics and genetics of this cancer to find ways we can target it with a known drug,” she added.
At the 2026 Washington State Science and Engineering Fair, Sinha’s project received second place.
At school, she has been the Associated Student Body secretary for the last three years and is running for president this year, she said. She is also the president of her HOSA – Future Health Professionals chapter.
Sinha is part of her school’s robotics team 8931W, the Vexing Vipers. As her team’s lead and scout, she develops strategies and manages finances and transportation.
For the past two years, Sinha has placed first in the state for Microsoft Office Specialist, a competition where participants’ skills in Microsoft applications are tested.
Jennifer McLoud-Mann, the dean of the School of STEM at the University of Washington Bothell, presented the award on April 14.
“She is a learner,” McLoud-Mann said about Sinha. “One of her focus areas is mathematics. Learning logic and other maths has given her insight into other STEM areas.”
Jenna Millikan: 425-339-3035; jenna.millikan@heraldnet.com; X: @JennaMillikan
