“Open your mind, embrace new things, believe that you can do new things, believe that you can do big things, and think beyond the box.”
Introduction
Dr. Manashree Shah is building a business that marries software and education. Through MSETS LLC, she has been preparing a resource website for career-related information for educators, schools, and universities, with books and videos among the materials she plans to provide. She wants to provide people with information that helps them find the way forward with their career development. The undertaking draws on the years she dedicated to studying, building applications and understanding how information can be structured so that others can use it.
Her own education has been characterised by a broad range of subjects that do not always seem to belong to the same field. Raised and educated in India, she enjoyed mathematics, physics and chemistry, while music and sport captured her interest. Teachers encouraged her interests and suggested books and extra classes that helped her find opportunities to study mathematics beyond the school curriculum. She studied vocal music for twelve years, played basketball at district level and participated in college dance and fashion shows. However, when basketball finals clashed with exams, she went for her studies despite continuing to play; being in front of an audience appealed to her, and so did bringing people together, a hobby she carried over as a school prefect and house vice captain.
Mechanical engineering gave her an understanding of machines and industrial processes, with a snake robot project bringing her closer to a question that would influence her choice of further study: how could software help a machine do what its designers intended? She became interested in programming and pursued computer science in the United States. While her schooling in English helped her with the language, she learned to make allowances for the different academic system. At California State University, Sacramento, the switch of discipline meant more preparation: Computer architecture and networking were some of the subjects that contributed to the grounding she needed for postgraduate studies.
Friends helped to set her up in her first accommodation, shared with five roommates. University life also meant earning money and budgeting. She worked in administrative and event services on campus, and an application development internship at Intel helped her pay tuition fees. During that internship, her database work contributed to a department working on 45 nanometre processors, for which she received an Appreciation of Service Award in 2008. While completing her master’s degree, she developed data warehousing courseware based on student enrolment information. The resulting paper was published at an IEEE conference in 2010, connecting her technical studies with a query in education.
Employment has given her opportunities to understand software from different angles. At Vision Service Plan, she worked in quality assurance, testing applications to see that they performed as intended. Returning to Intel, she developed websites and databases, supported engineering tools, and mentored colleagues. Later, working as a project lead at CalCERTs, she worked on applications supporting energy efficiency initiatives. These assignments involved both technical decision-making and the coordination required to complete work with others. They also exposed her to tools and approaches she would consider for her own enterprise.
The desire to build something of her own surfaced in 2015, when she thought of publishing books, papers and news for writers. Limited finances postponed that launch. By April 2023, she had set up her company while employed; much of the early work went into questions about potential customers and what they may find useful. Her working day over, she devoted the evening hours to that preparation. Setting her business up provided her with a reason to take the practical steps its development required.
Business education has accompanied her studies. She earned an MBA from Sacramento in 2023 and completed a specialisation in entrepreneurship and innovation through Harvard Business School Online. She has continued studying in areas including cloud technologies and financial investment principles.
“I like to lead people, inspire them and help them explore new things.”
Phase 1: A Childhood with Room for Many Interests
Bringing people together came naturally to Dr. Manashree Shah as a child. She enjoyed making friends, forming groups, and finding something that they could try together. There was a practical reason for it – an activity was more enjoyable when she had company, and those others could benefit from taking part. She enjoyed encouraging people to take part, explaining what they could do and helping them to explore an unfamiliar interest.
Born in India on 2 April 1984, she attended an English medium school where she became a prefect and the vice captain of her house. These responsibilities suited her enjoyment of organising others. She liked to be involved and have a say in what a group would do. Her interest in people extended to local events where she would volunteer to help with organisation and entertaining. Participation gave her a way to contribute and spend time with others at the same time.
Inside the classroom, mathematics and science held her attention. Physics and chemistry were among the subjects that she particularly enjoyed. She liked the challenge of problem-solving. She wanted to score the highest marks in her class. This ambition was accompanied by an interest in studying further than what the school offered, and her teachers helped her find ways to do so. They provided books, information, and directed her to further classes. There were opportunities to study further mathematics, and their encouragement helped her find somewhere to take an interest she had already developed.
Music occupied a substantial part of her early life as well. She attended vocal music classes for twelve years, making the arts a continuing presence alongside her academic interests. A sustained study also made her aware of the need to look after her health. She practised yoga for her mental wellbeing, and physical activity gave her another way to care for herself. Friends and teachers encouraged her to stay active. She was aware that focusing on her studies required her to be attentive to her feelings, both mentally and physically.
School provided physical activity classes for everyone, as well as an opportunity to compete. Basketball became a particular favourite. She enjoyed the focus that the game required and getting the ball through the net. Her interest took her as far as district competition in India, with recognition for her participation in 2001. She had gone beyond simply taking part in a school activity, but education would eventually determine how far she continued competitively.
Throwball began more casually. She took it up for fun and found that the speed and distance of her throws gained her recognition. She had enjoyed playing before this was associated with anything. The game gave her another interest alongside basketball and a different experience of doing well. In class, she deliberately aimed for the highest marks, and here, she had begun with the simple wish to join in and enjoy herself.
“You should be ready for both criticism and compliments. If you are ready for that, you can go ahead and do things.”
Phase 2 : Between Machines and the Stage
Mechanical engineering provided Dr. Manashree Shah with the fundamental questions regarding the structures of industries and the practical use of machines. At G. H. Raisoni College of Engineering, she studied the use of metal, industrial organisation, and the machinery involved in production. She learned the ways in which physical systems could be constructed and operated. In addition to these studies, she continued to take part in college activities that provided her with a different kind of enjoyment.
A fashion show in 2004 remained particularly memorable for her. She was part of the water group performing to music associated with an Enigma album. The dresses, lighting, and makeup had worked well together, and this combination remained with her. She appreciated the way the different elements added to the presentation and retained the attention of the audience. The attraction of the event was derived from the opportunity to be involved in something that could capture an audience’s attention.
She enjoyed having people in front of her when she performed. Being on stage was something she wanted to do, and she knew that it required boldness. A performer had to present themselves in front of many people and deal with the response that they experienced. While compliments were acceptable, criticism was part of the experience. She associated the willingness to face an audience with her personal development. Her interest in performing included accepting its demands and the pleasure of taking part with other people.
College dance performances provided her more opportunities to participate. She was given recognition by the Raisoni Group for her participation in the Pansophy Fashion Show and the Pansophy Dance Show in 2005. These occasions belonged to her life as an engineering student. Dance and fashion were activities that she enjoyed alongside her degree, and the performances gave her a place to express interests that her technical studies did not cover.
In 2006, an engineering project influenced her next academic decision. She worked on a snake robot, constructing the machine in metal. The idea was for it to detect metal and objects in its surroundings, find a path, and move accordingly. Its intended operation depended on its ability to respond to what was around it. Constructing the machine was one part of the project; giving it the behaviour she had in mind required something more.
The project utilised batteries but lacked the software necessary for the operation that she envisioned. She had reached a point where her interest in the machine had exceeded its physical construction. She wanted to understand the programming that could guide it. This need provided software development with a practical significance for her. It was related to something she had worked on and the functions that she wanted the machine to perform.
“Overall, it was a struggle, but things came together when they needed to.”
Phase 3 : Finding Her Feet in California
For Dr. Manashree Shah, choosing computer science meant not only a different field of study but another beginning. It meant walking away from the academic environment she already knew and learning anew in a country where even the familiar could be viewed differently. Having completed mechanical engineering in India, she decided to travel to the United States, primarily for higher education. The interest that had been nurtured in her for software had a destination, but it also meant that she would again be a student.
The preparation had begun before she left India. Her professors in the final year of Engineering had encouraged her to attend classes for the GRE. The training not only educated her about the examination but also included information about American universities and the student lifestyle she would have to familiarise herself with. Housing, the academic environment, and study structure in the United States were no longer things that had to be imagined. They were practical matters to the decision she had made.
Language was not the main difficulty she faced. Having studied in an English medium school, she was already comfortable using English academically. What required adjustment was the way problems were approached and evaluated. Mathematics remained familiar, but methods of solving problems, examination formats, and grading practices were different. She had been accustomed to percentages, while the United States introduced her to letter grades and a different academic structure. The knowledge she brought with her remained useful, but she also had to understand the system in which that knowledge would now be assessed.
Her transition into California State University, Sacramento also included a more fundamental academic hurdle. She was studying in graduate school for computer science from a mechanical engineering background. The university, therefore, asked her to complete undergraduate courses in prerequisite subjects before she could move on to the master’s curriculum. There were about six such courses. One could be waived, as her prior studies had included programming and statistics; subjects like computer architecture and computer networking were new territory.
The requirement placed her in an unusual position. She had already completed an engineering degree and earned academic recognition, yet she now had to return to the basics of a new discipline. There was no shortcut around what she did not yet know, and so rather than viewing the undergraduate courses as an obstacle, she was able to use them to build up the foundation she needed for postgraduate study in computer science. Each unfamiliar subject helped bridge the gap between the mechanical systems she had learned in India and the software world she had chosen to enter.
The academic environment was only part of adjusting to life in California. Long before assignments and examinations could become routine, she needed somewhere to live. Friends she had contacted in the United States arranged accommodation before and around her arrival. She eventually shared her living space with five roommates, an arrangement that was part of the practical reality of studying abroad.
There was no separation between education and everyday responsibility during this period. Tuition, accommodation, and ordinary living costs had to be considered alongside classes. Some support came from home, but Dr. Manashree also began working on the university campus. She took a position in administrative and event services, with responsibilities that placed her in an environment different from the technical classrooms in which she was building her new academic foundation.
Note of Thanks
Dr. Manashree Shah reserves a special place of gratitude for children. She spends time with kids named Breeze, Hymn, Carol, Drizzle, and more. She appreciates their ability to find wonder in what surrounds them and to approach unfamiliar things with curiosity. Their openness to discovery reminds her that new possibilities can appear when the world is viewed without assumptions.
Children have reminded her that curiosity can keep ordinary things from becoming invisible. Their questions, excitement, and willingness to explore encourage a way of thinking in which learning remains open-ended. For Dr. Manashree, that outlook has reinforced the value of staying interested in what is new rather than assuming that every answer is already known.
Dr. Manashree remains grateful to children for the curiosity and openness with which they approach the world. Their willingness to ask questions and remain fascinated by what surrounds them continues to remind her of the value of learning, discovery, and seeing familiar things with fresh interest.
thanks,
– Dr. (H.C.) Manashree Shah
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