New Delhi: She once dreamt of wearing a white coat and treating patients. That dream did not pan out. Today, she is headed to the United States to work on jet engines for Rolls-Royce, with a pay package worth Rs 72.3 lakh per year.
Rithuparna K.S., a student of robotics and automation engineering at Sahyadri College of Engineering and Management in Adyar, Karnataka, has done what few have.
At just 21, she cracked one of the toughest corporate tests the industry offers following eight months of non-stop challenges, rigorous interviews and sleepless nights. What started as a quiet attempt to prove herself has now landed her a coveted placement at Rolls-Royce’s Texas unit.
She comes from Koduru in Thirthahalli taluk. Her father, Saresh K.N., and mother, Geetha Saresh, run a modest household. She has a younger sister, Rithvika K.S. She did her schooling at Sr Agnes, and after PUC, she aimed for medicine. “My dream was to become a doctor. But my NEET results did not get me a government seat,” she said.
It hit hard. But instead of giving up, she took the seat she got in CET 2022. She joined Sahyadri College, a government seat, a fresh direction and a heavy heart. The first few weeks were difficult. She had no roadmap. But curiosity did not take long to spark something inside her.
From her very first year, she was building and brainstorming. Her first project addressed the challenges faced by arecanut farmers. She and her team built a robotic harvester and sprayer that they took to Goa INEX. There, she walked away with both a gold and a silver medal. Her mind did not slow down after that.
She joined a research team at NITK Surathkal. She also began diving into robotic surgery. She met with doctors to learn more, and even approached the then deputy commissioner, Mullai Muhilan M.P., to pitch an idea. Soon, she was part of a team building a solid waste management app.
But something about Rolls-Royce called to her. She reached out, hoping for an internship. The reply was not encouraging.
“Do you even qualify to be part of our firm?” they reportedly asked her. They told her she likely could not complete even one assigned task in a month.
Instead of feeling humiliated, she asked them for a chance. “Give me one task. I will try,” she said.
They sent it. She did not understand most of it. She stayed up nights. She read everything she could. She finished the month-long task in seven days.
They sent another one. Then another. And another.
What followed was eight long months. It was not a selection process. It was a trial by fire. New problems came almost every week. Interview rounds pushed her to her limits. Some days blurred into nights. Others just did not end.
In December 2024, without any warning, Rolls-Royce sent her a pre-placement offer. She was told to start working from January 2. Work-from-home, midnight to 6 am, while was still balancing her college classes during the day. She managed both.
She is now in her 7th semester and once it is over, she will fly to the United States to join the company’s Texas unit.
There was one last surprise in April.
The original offer was Rs 39.6 lakh per annum. It was bumped up to Rs 72.3 lakh.
Her department is celebrating the moment. “We are extremely proud,” said Lawrence Joseph Fernandes, head of the mechanical engineering and robotics and automation department.
No one remembers NEET anymore. But everyone now knows Rithuparna, the girl from Koduru who refused to give up, rewrote her story and now builds engines that fly.
