Young WISE Investigators Earn Scholarships with Winning Research

05.24.2021

Teammates Roxanna De Alba, Bhuvana Madiraju, Olivia Muñoz and Isabella Torres won first place for building a wind turbine to explore the optimal angle of blades and number of blades.

Groups of Dallas-area high school students worked throughout the school year with academic and industry mentors to design solutions to science and engineering problems as part of The University of Texas at Dallas’ annual Young Women in Science and Engineering Investigators (YWISEI) program.

A team of students from the School of Science and Engineering at Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Center in the Dallas Independent School District won first place with a project to design the most efficient wind turbine.

The winning teams, announced at a recent celebration, received scholarships to the University.

This year, teams had to navigate the extra challenge of working remotely much of the time due to the pandemic.

“The students who competed in this year’s program demonstrated tremendous determination and resilience participating in the program during a year full of challenges,” said Raul Hinojosa Jr., director of community engagement at UT Dallas. “Their research projects showed innovation and deep thinking, which are great qualities of future scientists and engineers.”

The first-place team built a wind turbine to explore the optimal angle of blades and number of blades. Teammates included Roxanna De Alba, Bhuvana Madiraju, Olivia Muñoz and Isabella Torres. Kaitlyn Malley, a cognition and neuroscience doctoral student in the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, served as the team’s college mentor.

A team from Irma Lerma Rangel Young Women’s Leadership School in DISD won 2nd place with a project to analyze the alcohol content of hand sanitizers with infrared spectroscopy. Team members included Brenda Campuzano, Jocelyn Carreno, Ruth Rodriguez and Isabella Tames. Andrea Ruiz BS’12, MS’21, who just completed her master’s in biomedical engineering in the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science, served as the team’s college mentor.

The 3rd place prize went to another Townview student team that created a device to warn users of underarm crutches when they are in danger of damaging their radial nerve. Team members were Priyanka Bhasi, Sneha Chandak and Vrinda Varada. Mariajose Plascencia, computer science senior, served as the team’s college mentor.

The Young WISE Investigators program was developed to inspire young women from underserved communities in the Dallas area to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The program was sponsored by the University, Capital One Financial Corp., State Farm and Texas Instruments Inc.

Women of all backgrounds are underrepresented in computer science and engineering, earning about 1 in 5 of all computer science degrees and 1 in 4 of all engineering degrees, according to 2018 statistics from the National Science Foundation.

–Kim Horner