Community Updates: June 2024
Our global community of youth here at Youth STEM 2030 are tackling the world’s biggest challenges through science, technology, engineering and maths, creating a real impact across all 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Here’s how some of them have been changing the world lately…
Ruvarashe and Jordan win prizes at the International Science and Engineering Fair 2024
The 2024 Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) - the world’s biggest global high school science fair - took place this month in Los Angeles, California, and several members of our Youth STEM 2030 community joined nearly 2,000 young scientists representing 49 U.S. states and nearly 70 countries, regions and territories across the world! Two members of our community won prizes in this prestigious competition:
Ruvarashe Moyo, representing Zimbabwe, with project: A Low Cost and High Performance Xylem-Activated Carbon Filter Water Purification Device: A Novel Approach to the Global Clean Water Crises won both second place in the Grand Award in Environmental Engineering, and second place in the USAID Science for Development Award in Climate and Environmental Protection
Jordan Prawira, representing USA, with project: PuraFlo: Centrifugation-Based Water Filtration System to Reduce Turbidity in Water Treatment and Ecosystems won the Fourth Award in Energy: Sustainable Materials and Design.
Huge congratulations to the award winners and finalists from our community:
Sophie Wins a Global Citizen Award
Sophie Healy-Thow won a prestigious Global Citizen Award for her extensive work in food and nutrition, including founding the youth-led movement Act4Food and working as the Global Youth Campaigns Coordinator for the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition. The acclaimed Global Citizen Prize celebrates remarkable changemakers who are taking exceptional actions to end extreme poverty now, and so being recognised by this award is a hugely deserved, but vastly impressive accomplishment. Congratulations Sophie!
Lela DeVine joins National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Advisory Committee
Lela DeVine, a Youth STEM Matters alumni, has begun serving a two year term on the Marine and Coastal Area-based Management Advisory Committee, with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. During this term, she will represent youth-serving organisations and incorporate her research and activism, alongside policy and advocacy experiences. This advisory committee advises on science-based approaches to area-based protection, conservation, restoration and management in coastal and marine areas, and Lela has stated “need for action and direction from this advisory committee comes at a critical time for marine protected areas (MPA) and high seas developments to achieve 30% of protected lands and waters by 2030.” This is a very exciting and inspiring opportunity and we wish Lela all the best.
Ash makes the finals for AFBElLive’s Next Big Idea competition
Ash, an alumni of the Youth STEM Changemaker: Entrepreneurs for Impact (Scotland) has made it to the finals of Our Next Big Idea Competition, hosted by the Association for Black and Minority Ethnic Engineers (AFBE), an event which drives dialogue, knowledge sharing, innovations and project developments around Diversity and Inclusion in the Engineering and Technology Sectors. Ash was pitching for her Move Back Up project, centred around providing renewable energy sources to houses and schools in Zimbabwe, and across Africa. Making the finals of this competition highlights the hard work and integrity Ash has, and is continuing to, put into her entrepreneurial project- huge congratulations Ash!
Youth STEM 2030’s Helena attends 100 years of the Young Women’s Movement
Youth STEM Changemakers Programme Officer Helena, along with Ash Mutembwa, celebrated 100 years of the Young Women’s Movement in Edinburgh, Scotland. For the past century, YWM has been Scotland’s national organisation for young women and girls’ leadership and rights, providing programmes, research and campaigns to support women and non-binary people. The event featured inspiring talks from speakers, a commissioned poem from Nadine Aisha Jassat, and stalls showcasing the work carried out by YCM. It was overall an inspiring event, and we were thrilled to be invited along.
Francesca selected for Edinburgh Innovations Programme
Francesca Roberts has been selected for the Edinburgh Innovations Start-Up Summer Accelerator programme, with a project that began in the inaugural Youth STEM Changemakers: Entrepreneurs for Impact programme, ThriftFind. This programme will equip Francesca with further entrepreneurship skills, through weekly masterclass sessions, support her in making positive change in the textiles and fashion industry, and provide an opportunity to pitch in front of the Edinburgh startup community. Congratulations to Francesca for this fantastic opportunity!
Rutendoe Welcomed into Westholme Lab for Research Placement
Rutendoe Kahari is going to spend 10 weeks on a research placement as part of the The College of St. Scholastica’s summer programme. She will be focusing on phage genomics, studying the unknown gene functions and expression of Mycobacteriophage Brusacorum. This is a fantastic next step in her academic journey, working towards combatting multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. We wish her the best for this exciting placement!
Alejandra honoured with the Bosworth Award
Alejandra Victoria Carrasco Alayo's dedication to social impact has been recognised with the prestigious Bosworth Award, presented by the Class of 1961 and the John Sloan Dickey Centre in honour of Stephen Bosworth's career. Alejandra holds roles within the Dartmouth College Student Government, as well as being co-director of the Latina and Caribbean Council, Vice President of the Women’s Network at Dartmouth, and is part of Dartmouth’s FYSEP community and a King Scholar. She was the CEO and co-founder of the Wawa laptop, the first eco-friendly laptop made in Peru, and also co-founded the NGO AEPEX. This summer, Alejandra will travel to Uganda with Team4Tech to teach students ways to put technology to use in their daily life. This award recognising Alejandra’s fantastic work is a well-earned recognition and we would like to congratulate her on this achievement.
Adam organises and attends the Jenner Institute Early Researchers Symposium
The second Jenner Institute Early Researchers Symposium recently concluded at St Anne's College, University of Oxford, encouraging early career scientists to share their research and ideas. Adam Khan-Qureshi, Youth STEM Matters co-founder, one of the key organisers, expressed immense pride and gratitude for the event's success, which surpassed the high standards set by the inaugural symposium last year. "This would not have happened without the incredible team who have worked tirelessly over the past few months putting this together,” Adam has stated. Adam's efforts in organising the Jenner Institute Early Researchers Symposium highlights the importance of empowering young scientists and creating opportunities for them to thrive.
Have a project, achievement or update that you want to feature in future Youth STEM 2030 Community Updates? Email the details to Mhairi McCann: mhairi@youthstem2030.org
