INDIANA – Governor Eric J. Holcomb, Indiana Secretary of Education Dr. Katie Jenner, and Indiana Treasurer Kelly Mitchell welcomed the four members of the 2022 Governor’s STEM Team to the Indiana Statehouse where they honored outstanding high school students for their exceptional efforts in science, technology, engineering, and math.
 |
“The four students selected for our STEM Team represent Hoosier innovation and hard work at its finest,” said Gov. Holcomb. “Each student is already making incredible contributions to their communities and will continue to lead the way as careers in science, technology, engineering, and math grow rapidly in Indiana.”
 |
As part of their selection as members of the Governor’s STEM Team, each student receives a $1,000 scholarship deposit into an Indiana CollegeChoice 529 Direct Savings plan, administered by Treasurer Kelly Mitchell, and a letterman jacket identifying them as members of the Governor’s STEM Team.
 |
“These students are a prime example of why it is absolutely essential for students to have increased access and opportunity to explore, engage, and experience STEM education beginning at an early age,” said Dr. Jenner. “Allison, Rama, Siya, and Matthew each highlighted the impact of this early access to STEM, as well as how specific teachers and adult mentors in their lives really helped open doors of opportunity for their future.”
The members of the 2022 Governor’s STEM Team are:
Science: Allison Maskew, Noblesville High School, Noblesville
Allison is a senior at Noblesville High School. From a young age, Allison’s love for science was evident through her science fair projects and conference attendance. Allison has attended several camps which have led her to an appreciation of medical careers. She is currently interning at CVS Pharmacy as a pharmacy technician-in-training. Her research efforts include studying the effects of sugar concentration on the growth of gram-negative E. coli bacteria. In the fall, Allison will attend Purdue University to study pharmaceutical sciences.
Technology: Rama Khabbaz, Valparaiso High School, Valparaiso
Rama is a senior at Valparaiso High School. In addition to taking 10 Advanced Placement (AP) classes, Rama also tutors at the Syrian Community Network, a refugee support organization. In 2020, Rama was accepted into the Girls Who Code Summer Immersion Program and her love of computer science grew. She has coded her own website and worked with machine-learning algorithms, including k-means clustering and gradient descent. This fall, Rama will study computer science.
Engineering: Siya Goel, West Lafayette Jr/Sr High School, West Lafayette
Siya is a senior at West Lafayette Junior/Senior High school. Siya is an independent researcher in pancreatic cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation devices through Purdue University. Additionally, she is the co-founder of Buzz Online, an online educational platform for free STEM courses that have connected over 20,000 students and showcases over 500 student projects. Siya’s future plans include becoming a cardiothoracic surgeon and impacting her community through research and activism.
Mathematics: Matthew Liu, Columbus North High School, Columbus
Matthew is a senior at Columbus North High School. Throughout high school, Matthew has taken three dual credit mathematics courses at Ball State University and several others outside of the STEM field. His research experience while in high school includes serving as a research assistant at the Morehouse School of Medicine and completing his first-authored paper while interning at Pioneer Academics Research. He is fascinated by the integration of math and science and looks forward to continuing to conduct research on complicated scientific problems. This fall, Matthew plans to study chemistry.
In addition to the four members selected for the Governor’s STEM Team, 12 students received honorable mentions:
Science
- Rishi Rao, Columbus North High School, Columbus
- Katelyn Roseberry, Mississinewa High School, Gas City
- Malia Sanghvi, Homestead Senior High School, Fort Wayne
Technology
- Tanya Datta, Penn High School, Mishawaka
- Vinay Krishnan, Fishers High School, Fishers
- Alexandra Tauriainen, Lawrence Central High School, Indianapolis
Engineering
- Evan Carr, Columbus North High School, Columbus
- Katie Essex, Southport High School, Southport
- Brayden Gogis, Franklin Central High School, Indianapolis
Mathematics
- Logan Moore, DeKalb High School, Waterloo
- Paul Ulrich, Indiana Academy for Science, Mathematics, and Humanities, Muncie
- Madelyn Zavada, Penn High School, Mishawaka
Additional photos are available here.
