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  • Akshat Sharma

    Akshat Sharma

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Akshat Sharma

Bachelor of Engineering (Computer Systems) Honours, 2022

Winner of the 2026 Young Alumni Award

Nurturing his ‘curious mindset’ and seizing career opportunities when they present themselves are the keys to success, according to Young Alumni Award winner and robotic systems engineer AK Sharma.

“Saying yes to things that make you most uncomfortable, that's where the growth is…Starting early and being proactive from day one of your degree, because you are the one who is driving the degree.”

For AK, it was grasping the opportunities that stretched him as a student, a graduate, and a young professional that have led to some of his most ‘pinch-me’ moments as a 28-year-old. From travelling to the UK and America to work with underwater robotics to assisting the transition from conventional to fully autonomous trucks here in Western Australia.

“Where I've seen the most growth is in putting my hand up and making the opportunities for myself, not waiting for one to come up. That has definitely helped me build the confidence and skills that have helped me in my career.”

Since leaving ECU, with a first-class honours degree in Computer Systems Engineering from our world-renowned School of Engineering, AK’s career has skyrocketed. Thanks in part to the support he received from ECU, which helped launch him in the professional world and earn an intern placement at Nexxis, a global robotic engineering company, where he specialised in the testing and non-destructive testing of robots.

“I was quite lucky - one of the [ECU’s high school open day] events led me to my first internship at Nexxis. I expressed interest in having a conversation [with Nexxis] about the robots they had. And soon enough, I heard from them that they wanted to get me on board and give me some practical experience in robotics.”

Never afraid to put his hand up and try something new, AK then branched out into underwater robotics with advanced navigation, eventually working on the world’s first fully autonomous underwater robot without a tether.

“I was really keen when I first saw the [underwater advanced navigation] robot, because it’s one of a kind, never happened before… I helped develop the robot into the testing [stage] and actually implementing it globally.”

When it came time to look for a new challenge, AK discovered that ‘robotics are pretty much everywhere’ – especially in the mining sector, where his career has continued its rapid climb.

“We had a fleet of conventional trucks at two different mine sites here, [and the] idea was to actually convert these into autonomous trucks…I was on the team that was actually responsible [for] making this change happen… So, I delivered those trucks, made sure they were operational, and now I get to look at the fleet reliability, so we can be efficient and produce more tonnes.”

Outside of work and his own stellar career, AK worked on his ‘soft skills’ by guiding the next generation of young WA engineers following in his footsteps. After setting up the student society at Engineers Australia, he took on the volunteer role of Vice President of Young Engineers Australia WA Network, as well as mentoring multiple young engineering students online.  After connecting with our very own Young Alumni Network, AK is planning the next chapter of his volunteering journey.

“I've reached out to ECU’s Young Alumni Network... I went to one of the events and the way they want to try to help the alumni and the current students really resonates with me, so I think that's going to be my next chapter.”

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