Meet the Teen Who's Inspiring More Girls to Enter STEM

Meet, Adelle. Adelle has powerful, world-changing ideas.

Remember her name, because this certainly will not be the last time you hear of her amazing talents and creations. Inspiring us with her answer to the question, "What local or global issue are you most passionate about?", Adelle first captured our attention with her incredible idea for diagnosing malaria and common eye diseases with her STEM-powered invention.

Read our interview with Adelle below and prepare to be inspired!

Mayah at Hello World: Where are you currently in your academic career and what are you most proud of achieving this past year?

Adelle: I am currently a sophomore at Westlake High School. This past year, I am most proud of my efforts to help elderly homes across Austin receive masks and hand sanitizers. I run a club called G.STAR (Girls in Science, Technology, and Research). I collaborated with Puracy and Stills ATX to provide elderly homes with 5 gallons [of] hand sanitizer and 60 pump bottles. G.STAR has also raised more than $500 to purchase 6,500 disposable masks and 100 N95 mask.

Adelle uses the power of STEM to lead her own organization, G.STAR (Girls in Science, Technology, and Research).

HW: When did you develop an interest in STEM? Who/What inspired you to create the G.Star club at your school?

A: I developed an interest in STEM early on in elementary school. My inspiration for creating G.STAR stemmed from my computer science class as well as the annual Austin Energy Science fair that I participate in. In freshman year, I took a computer science class that introduced students to the coding language, Java. I was one of the 9 girls in a class of 42. This similar gender ratio was also evident in the science fair, where male participation was apparently larger.

Throughout the course, our small band of girls received plenty of mockery and snide comments from our classmates, so much so that I one of my friends once interested in pursuing a career in the STEAM field was losing hope. I, however, refused to let her believe that this was okay. I knew that I needed to take action on the gender inequality that was seen in the classrooms, in the science fair, and in my community, so I founded G.STAR (Girls in Science, Technology, and Research) to show young girls and the people around us that we, as girls, have the capabilities to contribute to STEAM.

HW: Is there a feminist icon from history that you look up to? How do they inspire you?

A: A feminist icon from history that inspires me is Oprah Winfrey. Even though she was born in less than undesirable circumstances, she still rose to become one of the most well-known women in the world. She rose from the rural poverty that she grew up in to become a millionaire at the age of 32 and her own talk show host, proving that with determination, anything is possible.

HW: Can you tell me more about “Smart Mobile Labs” and “Smart Vision Labs”? What inspired you to have this vision and create these devices?

A: Smart Mobile Labs (SML) is a low-cost microscope and diagnostic tool with the capabilities of accurately diagnosing blood disease. Smart Vision Labs (SVL) is a low-cost ophthalmoscope and diagnostic tool with the capabilities of accurately diagnosing eye conditions. Both the SML and SVL can be utilized in impoverished areas to aid with quick and efficient diagnosis. They both do not require a physician to diagnose or cellular and wifi access to function. They are, as the name puts it, a full-functioning lab on their own.

I created the SML to help tackle the global malaria crisis. My family comes from Singapore and Malaysia, countries near the equator where the climate is hot and humid. About 2 years ago, my aunt fell ill with malaria. That was the eye-opening moment for me. I wanted to be able to do something about this global crisis. I found out that impoverished areas, often with lack of access to quality health care, wifi, and cellular access, carried a disproportionately high share of the global malaria burden, so I designed the SML.

I created the SVL to help tackle the global eye care crisis. My great grandmother had diabetes, that later led to her developing diabetic retinopathy (DR) in one eye. She became blind in that one eye later. The reason she didn’t go to see a doctor was because she was old, not very mobile, and there was a lack of close proximity quality eye care clinics. I then did research and found that the lack of access to quality eye care was a big, unresolved issue, so I created the Smart Vision Lab.

Adelle's devices in action: Smart Mobile Labs and Smart Vision Labs have the ability to provide instant access to diagnostic data and immediate care as a result to regions across the globe who need it most.



HW: What do you want the world to know about you and your passion for improving human life through science and technology?

A: I hope to collaborate with organizations and/or companies to launch the SML and SVL on a global scale.

HW:
Finish this statement! I want to bring more ____ into the world.

A: I want to bring more quality health care and female empowerment into the world!


It's the amazing teens here at Hello World that continue to motivate us as a team every single day. We hope you are just as inspired as we are.

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