[6] As an assistant professor, he was named an associate fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) for his "outstanding contributions to aerospace attitude dynamics, control theory and networked systems.
At UV, he led a research team to create drones that could move quickly with spatial awareness that did not require a Global Positioning System or human operator.
[6] Akella was also named the winner of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers's (IEEE) Judith A. Resnik Award for "outstanding contributions in nonlinear dynamics and adaptive attitude control of complex space systems.
[12] During the COVID-19 pandemic, Akella was elected to the International Academy of Astronautics as a corresponding member for his research in the control of complex dynamical systems that are subject to large scale nonlinearities and uncertainties.
"[14] In 2021, Akella was selected to receive the Dirk Brouwer Award by the American Astronautical Society for "seminal contributions to learning and adaptive control for spaceflight applications.