Broadcom Foundation celebrates Tarini Neeladaran – Coding Girl Scout to UCLA Engineering student

On International Women in Engineering Day, Broadcom Foundation spotlights young women who are using coding to be creative STEM problem solvers who can think critically, communicate, collaborate, persist, and become experts in the digital world.

Tarini Neeladaran, a 2025 Outstanding Girl Scout Award recipient and incoming electrical engineering major at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), has used these 21st Century+ skills that she shaped through coding and digital literacy programs supported by Broadcom Foundation.

Tarini's path echoes that of Dr. Henry Samueli, Broadcom Founder and Broadcom Foundation Chairman, who found his path to electrical engineering after building a shortwave radio in seventh grade. Like Dr. Samueli, Tarini discovered engineering through coding and hands-on projects in middle school – proof that digital literacy unlocks purpose and potential when young women have the tools and space to create.

Tarini with her Mom-Prasanthi Sathyaprakash and sister-Eesha Neeladaran

Tarini grew up in a home where engineering was more than a profession, it was part of her family's identity. Her mother, Prasanthi is a former engineer at Broadcom Inc., and her father Neela, says Tarini, "is one of the greats in the coding world." Their nurturing of Tarini's curiosity, combined with experiences in FABCamp at the University of California, Irvine (UCI), and using Raspberry Pi's at Girl Scouts of Orange County, transformed her from a quiet Daisy scout to a bold Gold Award winner on her way to UCLA.

As an avid science fair participant, Tarini learned that under-resourced students were competing in science fair against students with better training and access to research materials. She earned one of her scout medals by creating 200 STEM kits.

Tarini sharing her 6th grade Science Fair project

High school

Tarini advanced her coding skills throughout high school by participating in Broadcom Foundation-sponsored science fairs, including the Orange County Science and Engineering Fair (OCSEF) and California Science and Engineering Fair (CSEF). She earned multiple awards for projects in electronics, mechanics, and cognitive science, culminating in a STEM internship at The Energy Coalition where she applied her skills to sustainability projects that benefit local communities.

Tarini benefited from programs of the Broadcom Foundation that promote digital literacy and creative use of AI. With laptop and monetary donations from Broadcom Inc. and Broadcom Foundation, the Santa Ana Girl Scout STEM Center now serves more than 350 girls annually with coding workshops, Raspberry Pi computer access, a Spring STEM Camp, and summer Raspberry Pi STEM camps. Girl Scout Program-in-a-Box kits include Raspberry Pi devices that can be used by local troops, and their leaders can receive training on how to use them, ensuring that coding becomes both accessible and scalable to more girls so they can see the possibilities of coding like Tarini has.

Grand opening celebration of the Santa Ana Girl Scout STEM Center

According to multiple reports from the McKinsey Global Institute and the PEW Research Center, women remain significantly underrepresented in engineering roles and in broader executive and CEO positions. These reports also share that companies with higher female representation in leadership roles tend to perform better financially, concluding that women are literally good for business!

Broadcom Foundation is committed to supporting the next generation of digitally literate young women whose early exposure to coding and hands-on STEM learning is preparing them to compete for highly skilled jobs in emerging industries built on the technologies of the future by supporting afterschool STEM programs, Code Clubs, Girl Scouts of Orange County, and local and national science fairs.

With fewer than 10 girls in Tarini’s high school’s engineering classes, “it is discouraging,” she said, but she was not deterred. “It also pushed me. I knew I wanted to pursue this, not just for me, but for other girls like me.”