Alia Nathani is a passionate student, researcher, and mentor from Houston, Texas and the daughter of Indian immigrants. She currently attends Rice University and is pursuing a degree in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering with a minor in Business. Through her work as an engineer, she aspires to develop renewable energy resources to help achieve net-zero and create a more sustainable and equitable world for all.

At Rice, Nathani is the President of Engineers Without Borders due to her commitment to their mission of helping underdeveloped regions create sustainable infrastructure. She is also a representative on the Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Board and a student researcher in the Preston Innovation Laboratory where she studies electrostatic energy harvesting through “jumping droplet” technology. Whether as a teaching assistant, conference panelist, or squad leader for the Gates Scholarship, Nathani is enthusiastic about mentoring and tutoring others to empower them to become confident leaders.  

In 2022, Nathani interned as a Process and Process Safety Engineering Intern at BP, and in 2021, she interned with Shell and worked on a project to calculate greenhouse gas emissions on offshore platforms. Through these professional experiences, she aims to gain the capabilities to help her realize her vision for a greener future.