PhD student Rishika Tumula has been selected by the Indianapolis Chapter of the Women's Transportation Seminar (WTS) as the recipient of the Helene M. Overly Memorial Scholarship. The scholarship is awarded annually to inspire and support women who aspire to pursue a career path in transportation.

Rishika is a PhD student in the Transportation and Infrastructures area of the Lyles School of Civil and Construction Engineering at Purdue University. She is also the Vice President for the Institute of Transportation Engineers' Purdue University student chapter. As a part of her graduate study, she is analyzing recent changes to travel behavior in Indiana, including e-commerce adoption and trip rates corresponding to specific land uses. Her interests include travel demand modeling, response to new transportation technologies and the transportation-energy-health nexus.

Originally from Hyderabad, India, Rishika obtained a bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology-Hyderabad. She then pursued a master's in Urban and Regional Planning from University of Wisconsin - Madison, with a specialization in GIS and Transportation planning. While in Madison, she worked with Dane County on farmland preservation, farmland tax credits and solar policy, and with the City of Middleton on their Zoning Code Uphaul, and their Dark Sky Ordinance. Outside of work, Rishika enjoys art, doing yoga, reading and playing video games.