Student Spotlights
Blending Chemistry with Compassion: UCLA Engineering Student Seeks to Improve Lives through Product Innovation
When Victoria Madu was 8 years old, she baked a birthday cake for her younger brother, substituting eggs with applesauce because of her brother’s allergy. The family’s oven was unreliable, and the “cake” turned out to be what Madu called “a barely edible custard pie.” Yet, the experience planted a seed in the young girl’s mind.
“That was my first encounter with how different ingredients, substances or chemical changes impact the nature of physical things and how my own authoritative decisions when problem-solving can have irreversible consequences,” Madu recalled of the experience.
Empowering the Next Generation of Women in Tech: A UCLA Computer Science Alumna’s Path to Driving Innovation at Google
Before Itohan Ero ’23 became a software engineer at Google, building YouTube Shorts creation tools used by millions, she took every opportunity to immerse herself in the world of science, technology, engineering and math. Raised by her mother, an educator, Ero has witnessed the power of knowledge from an early age. “I grew up with a mom who always emphasized the value of lifelong learning,” Ero said. “She encouraged me and my siblings to prioritize education, believing it would lay the foundation for success.”
Bruin Engineering Ambassador Aspires to Make Medicine More Affordable and Accessible
When Julien Clairis- Gauthier opened his UCLA acceptance letter, he burst into tears. His dream school, the one that would help him pursue innovations in both health care and engineering, was finally within reach. “It was everything I had hoped for — a prestigious engineering program, a vibrant campus and a community of people who inspire me every day,” Clairis-Gauthier said. Now a third-year bioengineering student at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering, Clairis-Gauthier has channeled that dream into a mission: to create a more equitable health care system
CTEP Mentor Blog Series: Engaging Students in Computational Thinking
Victoria Madu reflects on her experiences as a near-peer mentor at Augustus Hawkins High School, where she supported Algebra 1 students under the Computation Thinking Equity Project (CTEP). She shares how she built confidence as a mentor by taking initiative, using computational thinking (CT) strategies to empower students in problem-solving. Through mentorship, Victoria deepened her passion for equity in education, particularly in STEM, and hopes to continue advocating for underrepresented students in her future career as an engineer.
First-Gen Bruin Engineer Strives to Make a Difference in Building a More Equitable Environment
Mia Irvin-Pollard was in seventh grade when she discovered her love for science after accepting a challenge from her father to fix a broken oven handle all by herself. Now a third-year electrical engineering student at UCLA, Irvin-Pollard said she knew from a young age that she wanted to be the Black girl in science, technology, engineering and math to inspire others in her community.
UCLA Engineering Doctoral Student Aims to Bring Accessible Speech Technology to All
The way people talk is influenced by where they grew up, the school they attended, their cultural background and the language spoken at home among other things. But does today’s speech technology recognize such nuanced differences and their implications? That’s the question Alexander Johnson, M.S. ’19 is trying to address.
Society of Latinx Engineers and Scientists President Kelly Espino on Her UCLA Journey
Long before she became a Bruin engineer, Kelly Espino said she knew what she had to do to help fulfill the dreams of her immigrant parents who put their own career aspirations aside to support the family.
The now fourth-year civil engineering student at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering is a first-generation Mexican American and the oldest of three children in her family. Her parents immigrated to California from León, Mexico. Both her homemaker mother, who had wanted to become a computer scientist, and her truck-driving father, who had aspired to be an architect, gave up their career goals when they moved to the United States. Her parents’ sacrifices and high hopes for their children instilled in Espino an early determination for success.