# Akhil Palla

> Flight Software Engineer at Reliable Robotics Corporation

Location: Cupertino, California, United States
Profile: https://flows.cv/akhilpalla

## Work Experience
### Flight Software Engineer @ Reliable Robotics Corporation
Jan 2021 – Present

### Software Engineering Intern @ Reliable Robotics Corporation
Jan 2020 – Jan 2021 | Mountain View, California, United States

### Systems Lead @ UCLA ELFIN CubeSat
Jan 2019 – Jan 2020 | Los Angeles, California, United States

### Software Engineering Intern @ Viasat Inc.
Jan 2019 – Jan 2019 | Carlsbad, California

### Mission Operations Manager @ UCLA ELFIN CubeSat Project
Jan 2018 – Jan 2019 | Greater Los Angeles Area
I oversaw direction and daily operations of 6 teams within a 30-person NASA space weather mission, using two 3U+ cubesats and over $3M in funding. I also continued to spearhead ground software development efforts with a focus on automation.

### Software Development Lead @ UCLA ELFIN CubeSat Project
Jan 2018 – Jan 2019 | Greater Los Angeles Area
I designed a system of networked Python applications for multi-satellite mission operations, including protocols for efficient spacecraft commanding, utilities for telemetry processing, and software for earth station management and antenna tracking. 

I developed Python software to aggregate and process science data for use by researchers, and overhauled payload software (embedded C) by resolving filesystem issues, implementing compression algorithms, and introducing advanced data collection functionality.

### Embedded Software Engineer (Command & Data Handling Subsystem Lead) @ UCLA ELFIN CubeSat Project
Jan 2017 – Jan 2018 | Greater Los Angeles Area
I Identified and resolved several mission-critical risks with onboard embedded software including parallel microcontroller timing issues, erratic radio behavior, and other missing avionics features (written in C). I developed a robust early orbit sequence for reliable autonomous deployments, and incorporated failsafe modes, telemetry checking, and other fault tolerance measures. I also developed modifications in Assembly to resolve critical issues post-flight hardware and characterized flight software behavior to demonstrate fulfillment of mission requirements to a NASA chaired review.


## Education
### Bachelor of Science - BS in Computer Science
UCLA

### High School
Monta Vista High School


## Contact & Social
- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/akhilpalla
- GitHub: http://www.github.com/akhil99

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Source: https://flows.cv/akhilpalla
JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/akhilpalla/resume.json
Last updated: 2026-04-10