{"id":164329,"date":"2026-03-18T09:17:41","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T13:17:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/?p=164329"},"modified":"2026-03-25T09:16:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T13:16:17","slug":"wright-state-alumnus-securing-the-worlds-inboxes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/2026\/03\/18\/wright-state-alumnus-securing-the-worlds-inboxes\/","title":{"rendered":"Wright State alumnus securing the world\u2019s inboxes"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cI think I learned a lot of life skills at Wright State. It wasn\u2019t just a place to get your degree. It\u2019s where I learned how to talk to people from different countries, how to understand their intentions and how to communicate better with them.”\u2014Medha Karri ’21<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Every day, billions of emails and text messages travel the globe \u2014 confirming medical appointments, tracking packages and delivering critical information.<\/p>\n

Wright State University graduate Medha Karri helps make sure those messages are secure, reliable and protected from cybercriminals who try to exploit them.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not the guy sending those emails, but I\u2019m the guy who is behind making sure that those emails are sent, and the companies are the people who are actually sending you the emails,\u201d Karri said. \u201cI\u2019m not the spammer. I actually work towards cutting down on all the spam.\u201d<\/p>\n

Karri was honored with Wright State\u2019s 2026 Alumnus of the Year Award, which recognizes graduates who have achieved distinction in their profession or community and demonstrate integrity and positive impact.<\/p>\n

Karri says the foundation for his work in communication security began during his time at Wright State, where he developed both technical expertise and the interpersonal skills that shape his leadership today.<\/p>\n

Karri earned his master\u2019s degree in computer science<\/a> from Wright State, where he served as a graduate research assistant on the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory\u2019s 2030 Science and Technology Strategy project. His work involved analyzing more than 120 million research publications to identify emerging threats and strategically important research institutions.<\/p>\n

He credits Wright State\u2019s hands-on research opportunities, faculty mentorship and collaborative student environment for helping him discover both his professional interests and his confidence as a leader.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I learned a lot of life skills at Wright State,\u201d he said. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t just a place to get your degree. It\u2019s where I learned how to talk to people from different countries, how to understand their intentions and how to communicate better with them. The friendships I built and the work I did outside academics \u2014 helping friends, collaborating on projects \u2014 all of that shaped me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today, Karri is a senior product manager at Amazon Web Services, where he leads teams building secure communication systems and AI-driven anti-abuse technologies that protect users from phishing, scams, ransomware and financial fraud.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Medha Karri, who earned his master\u2019s degree in computer science from Wright State, was honored with the university\u2019s 2026 Alumnus of the Year Award. (Photo by Erin Pence)<\/p><\/div>\n

He is passionate about cloud product management, software engineering, cybersecurity and mentoring the next generation of technology leaders.<\/p>\n

He has also helped expand secure email infrastructure to data centers around the world, including Ohio\u2019s U.S. Government Cloud Data Center and facilities in Malaysia, Zurich, Calgary and Dubai.<\/p>\n

Prior to his current role, he worked in several technical and analytical positions, including software engineer, business analyst and systems engineer.<\/p>\n

One of Karri\u2019s favorite memories as a student at Wright State was spending time in the Russ Engineering Center, where students gathered between classes to collaborate, exchange ideas and build friendships.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would sit there with my international student friends, and we would have long conversations about technology, about the research we were working on, about our dreams for the future, about our frustrations, about the difficulty of the coursework and about what kind of impact we wanted to have in the world,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd yes, of course, a lot of Netflix and movies and shows.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although current students frequently reach out to him for advice on how to follow a similar path, Karri said he encourages them to focus on building strong foundations.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t underestimate foundational skills,\u201d he said. \u201cThe university is where you build and strengthen them. I relied on a lot of resources at Wright State and people behind the scenes who pushed me to improve. Saying \u2018I need help\u2019 isn\u2019t weakness \u2014 it\u2019s being smart and learning from others.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stay connected with the Alumni Association<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Reconnect, mentor students, attend events and support future graduates by getting involved with the Wright State University Alumni Association. Learn more at wrightstatealumni.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Take the next step<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Ready to start your journey at Wright State? Apply today<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As a graduate student at Wright State, Medha Karri developed technical expertise and the interpersonal skills that shape his career in cybersecurity. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":72,"featured_media":164340,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[722,733,4309,4267,743,2060,725,727,2046,715,720],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-164329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-alumni","category-alumni-association","category-computer-science-and-engineering","category-engineering-computer-science","category-graduate","category-home-news-sidebar","category-homepage-photos-and-video","category-international-students","category-news","category-video"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/72"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=164329"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164329\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":164582,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164329\/revisions\/164582"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/164340"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=164329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=164329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=164329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}