Meet Ángela, the Mexican Whiz Kid: Conalep Graduate Takes Top Honors as World’s Best Student

Meet Ángela, the Mexican Whiz Kid: Conalep Graduate Takes Top Honors as World’s Best Student

September 26, 2024 Catherine Williams - Chief Editor News

The goal of the virtual medical assistant is to help people who live in remote areas or long distances from a medical center, helping them decide what kind of medical care they need.

Mexico City, September 25 (However). – Angela Elena Olazarán Laureanograduated from National College of Technical Vocational Education (Conalep), recognized as the best student in the worldaccording to the Global Teacher Award.

According to the award, the 17-year-old Mexican student developed a virtual medical assistant powered by Artificial Intelligence and advocates for girls to pursue careers in Science, technology and Mathematics.

A US$100,000 prize is awarded to a student who has had an exceptional impact on learning, the lives of their peers, and society in general.

Olazarán Laureano was chosen from more than 11 thousand nominations and applications from 176 countries around the world.

The Veracruz native helped create Ixtilton, an AI-powered virtual medical assistant that can diagnose 21 diseases based on a series of questions.

The virtual medical assistant was designed with local doctors during the Covid-19 pandemic, and aims to assist people living in remote areas or long distances from a medical facility, helping them decide if they need medical care.

She is a graduate of Conalep 244 “Manuel Maples Arce”, located in Papantla, Veracruz; and currently studying a degree in Engineering in Information Technology and Digital Business at the campus of Universidad Anáhuac Veracruz, Xalapa.

A few weeks ago, Ángela Elena Olazarán Laureano had been informed that she had managed to enter the Top 50 of the best students worldwide in the Global Student Award 2024, with the possibility of being named the best on the planet.

In an interview for HoweverOlazarán Laureano addressed her interest in the STEM movement, a program that promotes the teaching of Sciences, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, and how this led her to compete in the Global Student Award 2024.

“My father is a professor at Conalep, professor Luis Enrique Olazaran Camarillo, he laid the foundations for me in all these STEM fields, and throughout my career at Conalep I have gone to compete in robotics tournaments at the state, national level and international, and last year from a teacher, the engineer Carlos Espinoza Marchán, I received the STEM talent award, a call made by the STEM movement and the Global Foundation, where they searched for the best students in Mexico within science, technology , engineering and mathematics, and it was a long, very nice process, and I won this award,” he explained.

“With this background comes the call for the Global Student Prize, which is similar but on a global level and looks for young students who have initiative, who have projects that benefit their community, so it was a process where the story of my whole life had to be. to be considered, to be read, not just the grades, no, many things have influenced this application, and well, I got the result,” he added.

According to the official Global Student Award site, the first technology competition Angela entered was the FIRST LEGO Challenge, where her team won the “Rising Star” award. This first success led her to join the Nakú Robotics and Programming Club, which she now directs, and later, in 2021, she took part in the second National Robotics Competition in the “Home Care Challenge” category, where her team won the first place state and national level; and in March 2022 he won the silver medal at the XXVII Veracruz Informatics Olympiad.

In June 2023, the young woman was recognized in the STEM Talent Award: Mexico’s National Student Award, organized by the STEM Movement and the Varkey Foundation, after presenting “Ixtilton”, a project in which she developed a virtual medical assistant powered by Artificial Intelligence ( IA) with the aim of providing support in areas of the country that have less personal medical care available.

The above, he explained in a clip shared on the STEM Movement YouTube channel, stems from the widespread fear experienced during the coronavirus health crisis. “On my campus, 80 per cent of the students come from the community, they themselves told us about the fear that people from the community, themselves, their family, had of coming to the city ​​to get a medical diagnosis, consultation, and this. that is why a solution was provided through new technologies, through STEM fields.”

Ángela shared with this medium that it was precisely the National Student Award of Mexico that led her to compete in the Global Student Award 2024, where she was chosen for being a change agent in education In addition, she noted that “they also chose young people “They were committed to the environment and had a social impact.”

When Ángela was asked by her family, Ángela did not hesitate to express that this sport is not only hers but also her parents, both teachers, who have encouraged and supported her academically and romantically.

“My father was my biggest push to enter all these competitions, learning about STEM and he feels very proud, my father has always been very amazing, a very good teacher, he has led me along an excellent path and always reproduces the A video where they announce me as a finalist is something that is very exciting to see, and well, it’s not just my family’ all this achievement, because well, they are the ones who have supported me. And well, my mother is also very happy, very happy, she is the one who manages to balance the projects and the academic part for me, and the most sentimental part, so it’s an effort from everyone, teamwork and, of course, also from my teachers.”

As well as being motivated by STEM learning, the young student is also concerned about being a role model, especially for girls and young students, who she emphasizes that dreams do come true no matter how complicated the situation.

“There are always obstacles, there are always obstacles, and the most complicated thing is that it is an obstacle for myself, I’m going to say this from personal experience, I had low self-esteem almost every time, I had no confidence in myself. , but I found someone, a girl who was an example for me to follow, who influenced my life a lot, I followed her example, I saw how she was so committed, so committed, and now I am the one that influences more women and I want this path to continue, to be from generation to generation, that we all have an example to follow, that they are women, that they empower themselves, then I would tell them to be very disciplined, education will always take. they are on a very good path and that they always listen to the people who love them because they love them.

Finally, she said she felt happy to be selected among the top 50 students worldwide. “It’s a great recognition, that is, to see all this effort, all the dedication, the commitment, the sacrifices, the efforts, a lot of things go through your mind, and you reach this goal, the results this is so favorable for me, but without doubt also for all of Mexico.”

The Global Student Award 2024 is an annual award created by the Varkey Foundation in alliance with the American technology company Chegg, and since 2021 it has recognized the efforts of “amazing students” involved in transforming the world into something better. The award is open to all students who are at least 16 years old and are enrolled in an academic institution or training and skills programme.

–With information from Eréndira Quintero

Meet Ángela, the Mexican Whiz Kid: Conalep Graduate Takes Top Honors as World's Best Student - News Directory 3