Northgate HS student’s interest in STEM leads to UC research, STEM club and nonprofit

Northgate HS junior Angie Yao is getting a head start on career exploration in STEM, having recently completed a summer mentorship quantum physics research project at UC Santa Barbara. She has also founded a Women in STEM Club on campus that works to educate girls about Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. And she has started up a nonprofit called Her STEM Space, which aims to increase access to STEM education for girls and currently has over 2,000 members internationally.

"I am encouraging more girls to explore STEM because there are resources that I would have liked to have had when I was younger," said Angie, who is 16, adding that some girls at her school have talked about being the only female in computer science class. "Our club provides a safe space for girls to learn and feel really supported in the environment."

Angie said Northgate HS math teacher Claire Weir and science teacher Corinne Starr are inspirational role models and mentors to her, who deepened her passion for math and science and are "amazing teachers." Angie plans to major in engineering in college. Her 6-week summer research mentorship project on the UC Santa Barbara campus gave her a taste of what it's like to work on a research team, studying quantum physics and inventing a two-cell sample holder that could be used to measure materials such as crystals or liquids using a paramagnetic resonance spectrometer. 

"It was a very collaborative setting," she said, explaining that she worked with undergraduate interns and graduate students. "They were able to help me and guide me along the way." She designed the sample holder using 3D software, then created it using a 3D printer. She attached it to a large cylinder using a spool of copper wire and then inserted into a giant machine. At the end of the project, she wrote a four-page research paper, created a large poster, and gave a 10-minute PowerPoint presentation to her peers about the project.

"It was definitely a life-changing experience to be able to stay in a dorm for six weeks and be independent, and also working on ground-breaking research and being introduced to a lot of interdisciplinary techniques and really diversifying my skills, because I got to try something that was completely new to me, which was physics," she said. "It really deepened my passion for engineering and science."

Angie's interest in STEM was sparked in 3rd grade at Walnut Acres Elementary, when she was asked to design a leprechaun trap. "I was introduced to things like levers and pulleys and that was the first time I ever designed something by myself," she said. "And from then on I really realized that I love being hands-on and designing and inventing things."

Now, Angie is sharing her love of STEM with the 40 members of her Women in STEM Club. Next month, they have invited one of the female founders of Suncoast Ventures to speak to them. Northgate students can sign up for this guest speaker event on Thursday, December 5th using FlexTime on Minga. And they are planning to host an event to teach Valle Verde Elementary students about STEM.

Angie's nonprofit is also offering free monthly coding classes at the Ygnacio Valley Library and in online workshops. The next coding class is on December 14th and the next workshop is December 15th. The link to sign up is: https://forms.gle/n4yNEVg2mp938UGg8. Her STEM Space is also looking for volunteers and interns. Watch this reel to see Angie in action and check out the detailed poster she created about her UC Santa Barbara research project below!

Angie's poster explaining her UC Santa Barbara research mentorship project is below.