Dev Gavande

Senior Director

Dev Gavande is a senior at Wakeland High School and an aspiring mechanical engineer with a passion for robotics, mechatronics, computational biomedical engineering, and emerging technologies. With more than nine years of robotics experience, he has designed, built, and competed at the FIRST World Championship, while taking on leadership roles across FTC and FRC teams.
In 2026, Dev was named a FIRST Leadership Award Semifinalist in both FTC and FRC, recognizing his leadership, mentorship, and contributions to his teams and the broader STEM community. He also founded and developed a FTC robotics team at his school, creating opportunities for other students to explore engineering and competitive robotics.
Beyond robotics, Dev has pursued research across multiple fields, including AI in agriculture and computational biomedical research focused on nanobody-based therapeutic design. His research was presented at the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) Annual Meeting and AAN Autoimmune Neurology Conference, where he shared his work with an audience of neurologists, researchers, and industry professionals.
Dev is also passionate about giving back through STEM education. For the past five years, he has coached and mentored students through the North South Foundation, helping them prepare for competitive mathematics and science competitions. He also mentors students in robotics and works to create opportunities for others to explore STEM.