CAMBRIDGE, MA—High Schooler Sruthi Kurada of Cambridge, MA is on a mission: a mission to provide real-world STEM education opportunities to high school students across the United States.
Ms. Kurada is a lead director of non-profit organization MetroHacks. The organization’s other key leaders include Jiyoon Choi, Anna Grankin, Nidhi Pillai, Serena Behera, and its founder: Shrunothra Ambati.
“I was initially drawn to the STEM fields through the FIRST Robotics Program, where I learned to control a lego robot,” says Ms. Kurada.
Ms. Kurada is a rising junior at AMSA Charter School, a high school in Marlborough, MA. She is currently studying algorithmic design outside of school, doing biostatistical research at Harvard Medical School, and building disease diagnostic tools through audio-based machine learning.
Over the past five years, MetroHacks has organized high school coding competitions in Boston, New York City, Washington DC, and Atlanta to promote it mission. Now, MetroHacks is launching a new national competition: MetroHacks EmpowHer, where students can
win thousands in college scholarships.
“EmpowHer is a year-long competition for high school girls to create a computer science project that benefits their community,” says Ms. Kurada. “Through our competition, each participant has the ability to connect with a mentor: an experienced engineer from industry and academia to guide participants along the process of creating their project. Additionally, participants can take part in our 8-12 weeks courses that help them learn technical skills that they can use to
bring their project ideas to life.”
To participate in the EmpowHer competition, please visit the organization’s website or click here. Here are a few key dates to keep in mind:
- The EmpowHer competition begins on October 1, 2020
- Submission Deadline • May 31, 2021
- Finalists Announced • June 30, 2021
- Virtual Award Ceremony • July 15, 2021.
