Meet Yash Dagade | Undergrad at Duke University

We had the good fortune of connecting with Yash Dagade and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Yash, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking.
One of the riskiest things you can do is take no risks at all.

For people just out of high school or college, this is probably the best time in life to take bold risks. It’s when we have the fewest external commitments and the most independence—the perfect time to let our work be exploratory rather than burdened by responsibility. This is when we should be asking the big questions:
What is the meaning of life?
What kind of future ought to exist—and how can I help build it?
What problems do I want to spend my life working on?
What do I want my life’s work to be?

Now is the time to immerse yourself in technologies, to place bets on the future, on humanity. To zoom out, observe how the world works, and reflect inwardly on what you want from it.

I don’t know what the meaning of life is. But I’ve found that life feels far more meaningful when there’s a purpose behind the work you do. It doesn’t matter what the purpose is—as long as it’s real to you. What matters most is that you’re relentlessly working toward something bigger than yourself.

And with that mindset, the decisions you make might seem scary or unconventional to others. But if you have clarity, that fear shouldn’t bother you at all.

I’ll end with a note on the power of being “naively optimistic.” You can always come up with reasons something won’t work, or why your idea might fail—but that’s irrelevant. Success, in many ways, is just about not giving up. The only way a startup truly fails is by shutting down. As long as you’re persistent and keep solving, you’re still in the game. And if you don’t stop, you’re bound to succeed. Persistence is everything.

For me, this year was the first time I truly sat down and asked myself: What are the defining problems of our generation?
That clarity shaped the bets I want to take and the person I want to become. I believe energy and intelligence are the twin bottlenecks to progress. If we can commoditize both—make them cheap, accessible, and scalable—we unlock a world that moves faster than our world. And I think that world would be a much happier one.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I have always been fascinated by solving the global energy problem. In 10th grade, I did a project exploring energy solutions and learned about Airborne Wind Energy Systems (AWEs). Eager to dive deeper, I reached out to Dr. Biswas, expressing my interest in working on AWEs.

That’s how SkyWindFarm began.

Over the next two years, I built several prototypes, optimized them using supercomputer simulations, conducted extensive wind tunnel tests, and published my findings in international journals. I also secured a utility patent for my innovative turbine design. The highlight was testing a flying prototype, successfully keeping it airborne at 100 meters for 37 minutes, steadily generating power.

Working on SkyWindFarm was incredibly fulfilling and exciting. It never felt like “work”—instead, it felt like purposeful discovery and meaningful challenge. If asked whether it was easy, I’d say it was incredibly fun. Each step, even the setbacks, were rewarding and motivating.

SkyWindFarm taught me the critical importance of persistence. I learned the value of approaching problems from multiple angles, continuously iterating, and never giving up until I found a solution.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?

Ahh, luckily Durham is one of the best college towns out there! We have so many really nice and interesting things to do in town. I’d start by showing them around Duke University—my lab, the place I work, and the kind of work I do. Of course, we’d visit the iconic main quad at Duke, and then walk over to the Sarah P. Duke Gardens, which are now in full bloom!

We can also stop by the CIEMAS building and the lab where I work. Later in the day, we’d head to the Duke Lemur Center—it’s the second most densely populated place for lemurs in the world! Once we’re done adoring the lemurs, we can walk over to Wilson Gym and the basketball stadiums.

Duke is also really lucky to have some of the best college food in the country. We have incredibly good and healthy food here, and it’s pretty evident—just look around campus and you’ll see how happy, fit, and active everyone is!

There’s so much to explore at Duke that I’m pretty sure even a week wouldn’t be enough. There’s East Campus, all the libraries, the VR room, the polarization lab, and so many cool people and faculty to meet!

I’m also a vegetarian, and Duke has some fantastic vegetarian options. We can stop by Pure Vegan Café or go to Viceroy for some really tasty and authentic Indian food too.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I want to dedicate my shoutout to Mrs. Princesa Hansen—genuinely one of the most altruistic people I’ve ever met. She has dedicated her life to working with high school students from underrepresented communities and those without the financial resources to succeed. Through her unwavering support and her deep love for science, she’s helped countless students discover their potential.

She runs a program called SciMent, where she introduces students to science fairs and research. And I can say without exaggeration that she may be singlehandedly responsible for changing the life trajectory of multiple students. Her impact goes far beyond the classroom.

I hope that one day, I can be even a fraction as selfless and giving as she is.

Website: https://www.yashdagade.com/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yashdagade/

Twitter: https://x.com/YashDagad