Driven to Discover
DRIVEN TO DISCOVER
Adrienne Lai ’21 earned top undergraduate research honors at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology by following what excited her most.
BY MELISSA MAAS ’76
When Adrienne Lai ’21 started college at MIT, she didn’t imagine she’d be working on solar powered cars, modeling seal whiskers, or presenting her research on international stages. What she did know was that engineering was her passion—and she was eager to see where it might lead. Adrienne is intellectually fearless and endlessly curious, drawn to challenging problems not because they’re required, but because they’re interesting. She has a natural instinct for leadership, navigating complex, high-pressure roles with confidence and humility. She is also articulate and able to make highly technical ideas understandable. A rare mix of precision and playfulness, Adrienne is disciplined, warm, reflective, and open-minded—qualities that have shaped both her research and her journey.
Adrienne’s readiness to explore new fields eventually led her somewhere unexpected: the ocean. “When I was a freshman, I was really excited about the undergraduate research program since it presented the opportunity to explore uncharted areas of knowledge,” she recalls. One of those opportunities was the Sea Grant, a research program supported through a partnership with NOAA Sea Grant. Its mission centers on advancing the conservation and sustainable use of marine resources through research, education, and outreach. The work spans coastal ecosystems, environmental literacy, workforce development, resilient communities, and sustainable fisheries and aquaculture.
Adrienne quickly found herself immersed in a world where biology, physics, robotics, and mechanical engineering converge. Her first project, “Space to Sea,” involved processing data and images from a satellite monitoring algae levels along New England’s coast. In the summer before her sophomore year, she learned about another project that captivated her: refining an underwater flow sensor inspired by the distinctive whiskers of a harbor seal.
“I was inspired by the biomimicry element—how the natural evolution in animals can teach us new ways to improve mechanical things.”
Having been the captain and programmer for her FIRST Tech Challenge robotics team at St. Stephen’s and St. Agnes, Adrienne was drawn to the potential a harbor seal whisker sensor has to improve underwater sensing for robotic missions. “I was inspired by the biomimicry element—how the natural evolution in animals can teach us new ways to improve mechanical things,” she says. Adrienne was able to tailor the projects to her interests, from sensor design and fabrication to hydrodynamic analysis, gaining a diverse skill set in the process that will be essential to her career.
What began as an intriguing research task lasted through the rest of her undergraduate experience and became a defining part of her academic identity.
The Whisker That Doesn’t Wiggle
The scientific insight behind the project is rooted in geometry: harbor seals have unusually shaped whiskers that allow them to detect faint water disturbances. “Most animals have smooth, cylindrical whiskers,” Adrienne explains. “Harbor seals do not. The thing that makes harbor seal whiskers special is that they’re wavy.”
That waviness dramatically changes how the whisker behaves underwater. “Normally, when you pull a cylinder through water—like a straw in your sink—it vibrates,” she elaborates. “But when you pull a wavy shape through water, it doesn’t.”
This stability allows the seal’s whisker to function like a silent antenna, responding only when something disturbs the water ahead of it. As a result, a seal can detect and follow a target even in complete darkness. As Adrienne notes, “You can blindfold and ear-muff a harbor seal, and it can still follow a fish.”
It is an extraordinary biological mechanism that when harnessed technologically in a sensor would have far-reaching applications…think autonomous underwater vehicles and drones navigating without cameras or sonar, detecting wakes left by objects, terrain, or other vehicles.
Left photo: Adrienne explaining the whisker mechanism to judges and visitors at the year-end research showcase, where she won first place. Right photo: The 2.009 (Vortex) Product Engineering Process course concludes with team product pitches at Kresge Auditorium, presented live and online. Adrienne presented the technical component on behalf of her team.
Turning Biology into Technology
Although a predecessor had figured out how the whiskers worked and created the first large-scale sensor prototype, it was not viable for practical use. Adrienne’s team was tasked with making it more compact and refining its performance. The sensor her team developed consists of a flexible base containing a circuit, with a synthetic whisker extending upward. When the whisker bends or vibrates, the circuit detects the motion.
What makes the project especially compelling is the potential practical impact. Underwater vehicles today rely heavily on sonar and acoustic systems, which Adrienne notes “tend to be really expensive and have high power requirements.” For many applications—ecological monitoring, pipeline inspection, autonomous submersibles—power and cost severely limit what is possible.
A passive whisker-inspired sensor, by contrast, offers a silent, low-power, and potentially low-cost alternative.
Adrienne’s later work produced one especially meaningful finding—she proved that the sensor does not need to be made from materials that mimic a real seal whisker. “Your whisker does not necessarily need to have the material properties of a harbor seal whisker to work,” she says. “That allows more freedom with whisker design…you can use material as a design parameter to achieve a certain result you want to see.”
Presenting on the World Stage
If the whisker project marked the heart of Adrienne’s undergraduate research, the conferences where she presented her findings marked the moments that shaped her as a communicator and scientific thinker.
She has written multiple papers and presented at three OCEANS Conferences in Hampton Roads, Virginia, Limerick, Ireland, and Brest, France—each one attended by an international group of researchers across robotics, marine biology, acoustics, sensor design, and coastal engineering. “I was very satisfied with my presentation,” she says. “I explained the research well. The scientists in the audience asked lots of questions and I received tons of good feedback.”
Questions indicate an engaged audience—a sign that she had not only done excellent work, but also communicated it clearly. And communication, she believes, is as crucial as discovery. “Nothing happens with your research if no one else can understand it,” she says, smiling.
“Nothing happens with your research if no one else can understand it.”
Her work did more than produce a promising prototype—it earned Adrienne three major distinctions at MIT. Each one recognized a different dimension of her contribution to the field. The Dean A. Horn Award honored her “excellence in marine and ocean engineering,” a nomination that came directly from her supervisor, a gesture she remembers with genuine surprise and pride. The Martin A. Abkowitz International Fellowship, typically awarded to graduate students, funded her travel to present in France after she applied at her advisor’s encouragement. And her favorite recognition, the MIT Mechanical Engineering de Florez Award in the Undergraduate Science category, came after an intense end-of-year research showcase where she stood beside her poster explaining the whisker mechanism to judges and visitors. She won first place. These honors punctuated four years of steady, imaginative work—driven by the sheer fun of uncovering how something works.
Solar Cars and the Art of Leading Through Uncertainty
In her freshman year, Adrienne searched for a dynamic team to join and learn from, like her SSSAS robotics team experience. She landed on the MIT Solar Electric Vehicle team, which not only challenged her, but also expanded her understanding of leadership. She later became the mechanical lead (sophomore year) and captain (junior year) of the 60-member organization, a role that demanded both technical insight and logistical mastery.
“Solar Car was probably the most formative thing I did as an MIT undergrad, because everything else kind of had safety nets,” she says. “But we were building a car and that’s a very real-world task. It really built my confidence.”
The team operated like a start-up, responsible for everything from selecting suppliers to raising funds, manufacturing components, organizing travel, and managing risk. “It’s kind of like running a company,” she reflects. She notes that her robotics background at SSSAS also shaped her teamwork mindset; she arrived at MIT already comfortable working in a team and aware that engineering requires communication across sub-teams and shared problem-solving.
Leading the team through a national race—in which the student-built car traveled across the country over nine days—was a turning point. “That was probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” she says. And yet, when it was over, she realized how much she had grown. “If I can do that, I can do anything.”
Top photo: Adrienne (front row second from left) with her Solar Car team [courtesy of MIT Solar Electric Vehicle Team].
Bottom left photo: Adrienne, captain, and Tessa Uvideo, vice captain [photo by Andre Greene]. Bottom right photo: Array and Lead Driver Deepta Gupta with Adrienne in the solar car [photo by Cora Kennedy].
Workplaces That Teach How Engineering Really Works
Adrienne never sits still and never stops learning. She has filled her summers with internships that form another layer of her education and help crystallize the kind of work environment she wants someday.
At Boeing in 2023, she learned the rhythms of a large, established company. “Boeing was the largest and the first company I worked for, and where. I learned how a job works,” she says simply. Adrienne worked on the Boeing 787 airplane in Charleston, S.C. and marveled at the happy and open work atmosphere. “I could just walk up to the technician and ask, ‘what are you doing?’” she says. “They never hesitated to stop and chat. I think I learned to take initiative and take every opportunity to learn there.”
In 2024 when Adrienne interned at SpaceX, she worked on Starlink semiconductors and encountered a very different culture. “SpaceX was much faster, more startup energy, younger and cool” she notes. “Compared to Boeing, their innovation happened much quicker, but with higher risk and more growing pains due to the growing state of the company. I learned how there can be multiple different ways to develop something, but one that fits your timeline, goal, or work environment more.”
Last summer she interned at Skytree, a 100-person carbon-capture startup in Amsterdam, which offered an intimate look at how an idea becomes an actual product. “It was very different from working at Boeing and SpaceX, where you worked on established ideas and products. It was fascinating to see how many potential directions and strategies one project has when in the earlier development stages.” she says.
It is easy to imagine why the experience thrilled her, because Adrienne seems to gravitate toward the edges — where ideas are raw, where solutions are not yet clear, where creativity and technical precision must coexist.
Where It All Began
As Adrienne reflects on her SSSAS foundation, she says the academics prepared her well, but the distinguishing factor at MIT came from somewhere else, “I was totally prepared technically, but the humanities were where I really felt different.”
At a highly technical institution, clarity of writing and confidence in presenting turned out to be significant advantages. “I am very comfortable writing a paper and presenting,” she says. “Some of my MIT classmates had never even written a five-paragraph paper. I’m totally at ease with grammar, collaborating, and communicating.” These skills distinguished her at conferences and in cross-disciplinary collaborations.
Adrienne also doesn’t hesitate to talk to her teachers, ask for help when needed, and go after what she finds interesting. Her message to high school seniors is simple, “If you want something, go for it. Look for opportunities and apply for them. It never hurts to ask to do something.”
A New Lab, A New Set of Challenges
Adrienne is now working on her master’s degree in the MIT Varanasi Lab, which explores interfacial thermal fluids engineering —how heat and fluids behave where different phases of matter meet. She often describes the work as early-stage science with real-world promise.
Her portfolio of projects is unusually broad: “I’m working on three projects,” she says. “One’s related to ovarian cancer early detection… one’s related to increasing electrochemical cell performance… and then the last one is working on more efficient carbon capture.”
In many labs, students focus on one project with laser-like precision. Adrienne laughs when acknowledging that her situation is not typical: “It’s very rare to get assigned to multiple projects,” she says, “but that’s just the nature of my lab. It’s very interdisciplinary.”
The variety suits her perfectly.
She is candid about the setbacks inherent in research. “Research can be very frustrating. It doesn’t work a lot of the time.” But she knows how breakthroughs happen: “You just need to be persistent and keep going.” And when the path changes? “Be flexible and ready to pivot. If one thing doesn’t work, try the next thing.”
Adrienne’s future remains wide open—and that is precisely how she prefers it. Her long-term goal is to lead something technical, whether a lab, a startup, or an R&D group within industry. But for now, she is exactly where she thrives: at the intersection of ideas, fields, and possibilities.