NCWIT Aspirations in Computing (AiC) is proud to announce that ten members of the AiC Community have each been awarded an Apple Scholars Program scholarship. In addition to the $15,000 scholarship, each winner will receive a technology package and exclusive participation in an immersion event with Apple.
BOULDER, Colo., April 29, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- NCWIT Aspirations in Computing (AiC) is proud to announce that ten members of the AiC Community have each been awarded an Apple Scholars Program scholarship. In addition to the $15,000 scholarship, each winner will receive a technology package and exclusive participation in an immersion event with Apple.
NCWIT AiC is one of ten organizations that collaborated with Apple to identify a total of 100 Apple Scholars for the initiative's first cohort. The AiC awardees, all of whom are currently seniors in high school, were selected based on their achievements in the Aspirations in Computing program, their intention to pursue studies in computing or engineering after completing high school, and their potential to benefit from the Apple Scholars experience.
"NCWIT has worked with Apple for more than ten years, and Apple's DEI team has consistently innovated on ways to improve gender equity in tech," NCWIT President and CTO Terry Hogan said. "The Apple Scholars program will be a game-changer for participants, and NCWIT is honored to be a partner in selecting scholars from the Aspirations in Computing community."
About Aspirations in Computing: NCWIT Aspirations in Computing (AiC) provides encouragement, enables persistence, opens doors, and changes lives for women, genderqueer, and non-binary people in technology from K-12 through career. The entire Aspirations in Computing program platform is supported generously by NCWIT Lifetime Partner Apple.
Learn more about the scholarship recipients below:
Alline Ayala is intrigued by technology and optimistic about its role in society. Besides her curiosity about technology, Alline enjoys creating art by sculpting with clay. She has had several accomplishments in both the art and STEM fields, including winning a scholarship for her performance in the National Cyber Scholarship Competition. Alline plans to pursue computer science with a concentration in cybersecurity in college, with a goal of helping to defend against today's digital threats.
Paridhi (Pari) Latawa is a senior at the Liberal Arts and Science Academy in Austin, Texas. She is interested in exploring the intersection between technology and biology, specifically genetics. She enjoys competing in Science Olympiad and playing the viola. Pari is the founder and executive director of SparkED, an organization that aims to equip youth with resources to educate, empower, and enable them to make informed decisions about their career and life.
Mahati Manda is a senior at Basis Independent Silicon Valley High School. She is the creator of Notecademy.com, a note-sharing web application. Her eagerness to help others motivated her to establish the California Funbotics Chapter, which strives to provide quality STEM education to underrepresented students. At school, she is president of the National Art Honors Society, president of the Girls Who Code Club, and editor-in-chief of the student newspaper.
Maria Pham is a senior at John B. Connally High School. She began her coding journey in sixth grade, participating in code.org's Hour of Code and playing video games such as Halo and Skyrim. She has continued her interest in coding by taking AP computer science classes in high school, and she is also pursuing other STEM-related classes, including physics, chemistry, calculus, and engineering. She hopes to major in computer science in college.
Jessica Shoemaker is a high school senior from Austin, Texas. Jessica started a competitive computer science club and has helped lead the team to numerous victories over the years. As Mu Alpha Theta President, she also leads the advanced math efforts at her school. Jessica is a four-time AIME qualifier, and has risen to USA Computing Olympiad Gold level. Jessica expects to study computer science in college and to discover what opportunities that opens up for her.
Rakshinee Sreekanth is a senior at Westwood High School. Last year, she planned and hosted a district-wide event called HERStory Makers to promote women in STEM. This year, she founded Tech Starters, a STEM and business project-based organization that seeks to introduce young individuals to the real product development workplace within high school itself. Rakshinee hopes to pursue a career in data science, where she can combine her love for analytical programming with innovative business decision-making.
Angelina Urabe Chavez learned to code websites in the Girls Who Code Summer Immersion Program. In the UC Santa Cruz Girls in Engineering program, she worked with a team of young girls on a robotics project. During her internship at Digital NEST, Angelina helped to plan a workshop for youth to bring awareness of, and develop solutions to, the underrepresentation of Latinx people in tech. She hopes to pursue a career as a full stack engineer.
Annika Viswesh, a senior at Palo Alto Senior High School and a 2021 Simons Summer Research Program Fellow, is passionate about scientific innovation, service, and advocacy for equity and diversity in STEM. Annika has held research internships at University of California, San Francisco, Stanford University, and Stony Brook University. She founded an organization called Jobs of Tomorrow to encourage underrepresented students to pursue STEM and to empower them to see themselves as future STEM leaders.
Darlina Williams is a senior at Pacific Collegiate School in Santa Cruz, California. Last summer, she interned at Almost Human Media, where she developed a user interface for an interactive tool that allows users to re-imagine water usage in Los Angeles. Darlina plans to pursue a degree in computer science, work as a software engineer for a few years, and then earn an MBA, with a goal of founding a company that develops sustainable technology.
Chloe Yan, a senior at Burlingame High School, is passionate about technology. She is the executive director for Girl Genius, an international nonprofit that empowers girls in STEAM worldwide through magazines, videos, and events. She also co-founded CS Hands-On to develop an interactive curriculum that equalizes computer science education for the next generation of coders. Her future plans include attending college as a computer science major and pursuing opportunities that utilize technology for social good.
Media Contact
Angela Galik, NCWIT Aspirations in Computing, 1 612-702-4535, [email protected]
SOURCE NCWIT Aspirations in Computing
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