Page 14 - Access Magazine 2023

MANNAN Reaches for the Stars AT
“The people in the International Office have been an immense support from Day One,” Mannan says. His adviser there, Jasmine Cao, says of Mannan: “This young man’s generosity, intelligence, competence, hum- bleness, and care for others have carried him through difficult times, led to his current accomplishments and will lead to future achievements.” Man- nan, 30, didn’t immediately pursue higher education after graduating from high school.Instead, he worked for his father’s manufacturing business that had customers throughout Southeast Asia. He could have settled into a lucrative career in India, but he chose a different path. “I wanted to do something on my own and grow myself.” He came to the United States because of its strong university programs in computer science, and he selected Fresno State for its affordability and proximity to the high-tech industries of Silicon Valley. “I was basically starting over. But I took the challenge head-on and started doing what I had to do.” Part of that was establishing a network of friends, which Mannan did by attending events organized by the International Office, joining a Bible study and connect- ing with a family from India living in Fresno. Thanksgiving became one of his favorite celebrations. Yet he never lost sight of opportunities to apply what he was learning.
One summer, for example, Mannan participated in a local hackathon, an engineering competition for computer programmers. He did well, which eventually led to him heading up a team of Fresno State students working on a project to help NASA’s upcoming space missions.
Fresno State’s team chose to develop and assess spacecraft controls using fully immersive virtual reality to eliminate cockpit hardware, make the craft lighter and optimize layout.
FRESNO STATE
AND AT NASA
BY DOUGLAS HOAGLAND
Narendra Mannan left his home in India to build a future by attending Fresno State and seizing every opportunity that came his way. He succeeded in ways he never could have imagined when his plane landed in Fresno on a gray December day.
While at Fresno State, Mannan worked on solving challenges of space exploration using virtual reality for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). He also developed software under the guidance and mentorship of engineers at Google.
Those high-profile moments came as Mannan – a computer science major – maneuvered through a country and culture he was only learning about when the Covid pandemic led to lockdown and isolation. Mannan was half-a-world away from the places he knew and the people he loved, and one of those people – his mother – was seriously ill. “But I never gave up,” Mannan says. “I get my fighting spirit from my mom.”
After arriving in 2018, he found an early connection through the university’s International Office in the Division of Continuing and Global Education. It’s a place of support and friendship for international students – each of them with a story of what they left behind and what they want in their futures.
14 California State University, FRESNO