Ayantu Tamene

Pioneer High School
Woodland, California

I am a senior at Pioneer High School, planning to attend a 4-year university post-graduation. Through my school's robotics team, I am the head of our Software Team, working to mentor new students, code our robot, and develop our team's website. Most of all, I love participating in STEM outreach. I am a student mentor in our annual youth robotics summer camps, and support after-school robotics clubs at local elementary schools. Seeing the joy and pride in these students' faces as they run their robot for the first time is the most gratifying feeling. I hope to continue this work in the future to increase diversity in STEM. In college, I hope to combine my interest in computer science with my interest in medicine to develop algorithms and computational models of disease to better treat patients; I've begun to get some experience in the field through an internship at a local university, but I've only scratched the surface of computational biology.

Scholarships Awarded in 2021: NSHSS Nobel Academic Excellence Scholarship

The NSHSS Nobel Academic Excellence Scholarship recognizes high school juniors and seniors making a positive impact on society, and how college will help these students continue to make an impact for years to come.