Soumya Indela

Soumya Indela grew up seeing her father repairing computers, televisions and radios as a hobby and would be fascinated when parts taken from one device could repair another device.

“I was keen in knowing what those basic building blocks that all devices contained and took up electrical and computer engineering as my major to explore further,” she says. “As I progressed with my understanding, I could see that most devices will become ‘smart and connected’ in the future. The security of these devices will become critical to ensure their operation, so I started to explore the field of cybersecurity.”

While Indela was working as a postdoctoral research associate, researching cyber-physical systems and developing cybersecurity courses at Iowa State University, she says that Arizona State University was her top choice when she was applying for faculty positions.

“ASU is highly ranked in the field of computer engineering and the first in innovation,” she says. “The university is growing rapidly, making it a vibrant place to work. Further, the large student body makes it possible for me to maximize my impact on motivated and diverse sets of students.”

As a lecturer in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, one of the seven schools in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at ASU, she will be teaching computer organization and assembly language programming, embedded microprocessor systems and computer network security.

She says that her students should be prepared to do a lot of reading and ask questions. 

“It will be my first time teaching a full class, so I would like to explore new teaching techniques, especially for large groups of undergraduate students,” she says. “I am also interested in student mentoring and advising them in their academics and careers.”

While new to teaching a full class, Indela received a “Distinguished Teaching Assistant” award for the digital circuits and systems laboratory course as a doctoral student at the University of Maryland, College Park.

Outside the classroom, Indela has been learning Indian classical dance and music.

Meet the newest faculty members of the Fulton Schools of Engineering here.

Written by Erik Wirtanen