Following the success of the first Heart District STEM Conference held at Valencia High School last fall, seniors Nishika Manjeshwar and Nikhilesh Kalyanaraman are hosting this year’s STEM Conference, inviting local students as well as others from Los Angeles County to host this year’s STEM Conference. I wanted to open the school’s doors to students.
The LA STEM Conference welcomed students to the Valencia High School campus last weekend to connect with STEM-related high school and college-level clubs, other like-minded students, real-world professionals, and explore STEM career paths. , technology). , engineering, mathematics). The conference also allowed students to showcase their intelligence in a research competition.
While working with elementary schools to create STEM-related events and activities, Manjeshwar realized that students at the high school level needed similar opportunities, so he worked with Kalyanaraman to make this year’s event a reality. I worked on it.
“There aren’t a lot of opportunities here unless you really go looking for them,” she says. “I think it’s important for everyone to be educated about STEM because a lot of people feel excluded from it, especially people who don’t feel represented in this field. That is the case.”
Many students “typically develop an interest in STEM or discover what they want to do after entering college, but they don’t fully develop what they want to do during high school,” Kalyanaraman said. I added. “Conferences are helpful, which is why we bring in speakers from a variety of fields so students can find something that might be of interest.”
Sophomores McKenna Leake and Kylen Pennington demonstrate a catapult made from craft supplies at the LA Stem conference hosted by Valencia High School. Catherine Quezada/Signal
Guest speakers include Tom Begsich, a quantum computing researcher at the California Institute of Technology; Sulaimane Bentaleb, CEO of neuron technology startup Neuron; and Boston Scientific’s electrophysiology and cardiac They included Saeed Mousavi, senior lead service engineer and instructor for catheter equipment;
Some of the club and study competitors are student groups focused on creating fully functional gadgets using supplies once used in elementary school, such as popsicle sticks and pipe cleaners. There was an Engineering Makers Club.
McKenna Leake said the club encourages creativity without any constraints, adding, “There are so many different rules and standards for everything in school that opportunities to explore creativity are really limited.” “This is an opportunity to unleash your creativity.” As someone who loves the concepts of engineering and art, the club offers a combination of the two.
For Kylen Pennington, attending the LA STEM conference was beneficial in expanding her knowledge of the possibilities she could pursue as someone interested in biology, chemistry, and astrophysics.
“I never thought about pursuing something very niche like neuroscience or architecture. It’s very specific, but I never would have thought of it that way. So it was very helpful,” Pennington said. She added that she was able to find something that combined all of her interests.
At the LA STEM conference held Saturday at Valencia High School, students received a live demonstration of how STEM fields can create critical tools to save lives, such as devices that read heart rates. Catherine Quezada/Signal
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