When Harsh Vardhan Singh Bhadauriya watched SpaceX launch its first reusable rockets as a schoolboy in Bhind, Madhya Pradesh, he didn’t just see fire and metal breaking through the sky — he saw his calling.

That spark of curiosity would later propel him to IIT Mandi, where he’s now building autonomous rovers, leading robotics teams, and designing the future of intelligent machines.

The making of a dreamer

Harsh’s path began like that of many Indian aspirants — with the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE). “I wanted to be where ideas turn into innovation,” he recalls. His first attempt at JEE Advanced fetched him a decent rank, but not the one he dreamed of. Determined, he took a gap year, moved to Kota, and dedicated eight grueling hours a day to study.

Between bouts of self-doubt and burnout, he found strength in his parents’ faith — his father, a businessman, and his mother, a homemaker.

A year later, that determination paid off: Harsh earned a seat at IIT Mandi, where he now pursues Bioengineering with a minor in Computer Science. “It felt like the world had opened up,” he says. “The moment I saw the hills surrounding the campus, I knew I was in the right place.”

Choosing the road less travelled

While many of his peers aimed for Aerospace or Electrical Engineering, Harsh found himself drawn to Bioengineering — a field where biology, computation, and robotics converge. “It’s where machines meet life,” he says. “That intersection fascinated me.”

His curiosity soon led him to the Robotics Club, where he rose to become overall coordinator. Among his proudest moments was representing IIT Mandi at the University Rover Challenge (URC) 2024 in Utah, USA, where his team built an autonomous land rover capable of navigating rugged terrain.

“The rover wasn’t just a machine — it was a testament to teamwork, sleepless nights, and shared vision,” Harsh says. Guided by professors Dr. Jagadeesh and Dr. Narendra Dhar, he spent countless hours designing, testing, and refining. “They taught me that innovation isn’t about perfection; it’s about persistence.”

Life beyond the lab

IIT Mandi’s serene Himalayan campus became more than just a backdrop for Harsh’s experiments — it became home. Between lab sessions and coding marathons, he plays badminton, indulges in late-night gaming, and shares endless discussions with friends about science, startups, and space.

Life here, he says, “teaches you how to learn, not just how to study.” With low living costs and opportunities for assistantships and internships, he’s been able to focus on growth — both intellectual and personal.

Engineering innovation with impact

Harsh’s work goes far beyond campus competitions. As an AI/ML intern at Tracker Suite Pvt Ltd, he developed an AI-powered Business Insight Generator integrating FastAPI and MySQL — a project that proved his classroom lessons could solve real-world problems.

At the Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (CAIR), he’s developing autonomous navigation systems using deep reinforcement learning. His leadership as coordinator of Prayas 3.0, a nationwide Robotics, AI, and IoT programme, brought together 112 participants and secured a ₹3 lakh grant for a firefighting drone project.

Each of these experiences, he says, has reinforced one lesson: discipline and consistency can move mountains — or build rovers to climb them.

Eyes on the stars

Now in the final stretch of his BTech, Harsh is looking ahead to a future that merges his love for robotics with his childhood fascination for space. Whether in research or industry, he hopes to contribute to robotic systems for space exploration, the kind that may one day walk on Mars.

“The climb has been steep,” he says, reflecting on his journey from Bhind to the Himalayas. “But every challenge — every late night, every setback — was worth it. Because when you finally reach the summit, the view isn’t just beautiful. It’s inspiring.”