Eleanor Nuechterlein
I’m Eleanor Nuechterlein, a sixteen-year-old from Alexandria, Virginia. I’m a junior at The Potomac School, and this is my second year as a member of a robotics team. For our robotics team, I primarily program, prototype, and journal. I spend a lot of time working on our autonomous program each year, as I was initially the only team member who had taken computer programming classes. I’m interested in many other aspects of STEM; I have taken computer science classes at my school since sophomore year, I am currently taking the AP class for comp-sci, and I loved freshman year biology. I spend a lot of my time working with the St Jude’s Childrens Research Hospital, raising money for cancer research, through an event which I help to organize and host at the French Embassy every year. I aspire to be a bioengineer, which would bring my love of computer science, robotics, and biology into one. Outside of STEM, I play on my school’s varsity soccer team as well as an out-of-school soccer team. I am a pianist and violinist, and I play for the American Youth Concert Orchestra. I have one younger brother, and I love spending time with my family and friends.
Whitney Bowen
I’m Whitney Bowen, a sixteen-year-old from Falls Church, Virginia. I’m currently a junior at the Potomac School, where I have been involved in robotics since my sophomore year. I am the team captain for our robotics team, and I primarily design, program, build, and drive. I’m interested in all-things STEM; I love biology, computer science, stagecraft (a class with components of mechanical engineering), and math. At my school, I started a club for women in STEM with Hollis Cutler (teammate) and another close friend. I am also a member of a different club, TNT, where I tutor younger kids at my school in math and science. My current dream is to be a neurosurgeon or neuroscience researcher, and I would love to go to med-school. This past summer, I attended a neuroscience program at Cal Berkeley with my teammate Anna, which fueled this dream. Outside of STEM, I play on my school’s varsity squash and varsity softball teams, spend a lot of time in the art room, and I tutor younger kids as a volunteer on weekends and weekdays after school. I have two older sisters, twins, who are currently freshman in college. I love spending time with my family and friends, and I hike and explore national parks whenever I have the chance.
Jun-Young Hong
I am Jun-Young Hong, a fifteen-year-old from McLean, Virginia. I am a sophomore at The Potomac School. This is my fifth year doing robotics; I completed one year of First Lego League Robotics, two years of Vex IQ, and two years of VEX. My favorite things about robotics are problem solving, and being with my friends. I contribute to my team by programming and building. As a sophomore, I am taking a computer science elective, and I hope to take the AP version next year. Outside of robotics, I play on my school’s varsity squash and varsity soccer teams. I also play lacrosse and play piano. I love to participate in community service events, and through my school I have attended many events helping children-in-need with the organization Alternative House/Second Story. I am a member of the Asian Student in America (ASIA) club at my school, and in the next year, I hope to start a weekly club for women of color at my school. Additionally, this summer, I took a course at Brown that focussed on biomedical engineering and device design. This course’s content is something that I would love to pursue in the future, as I aspire to be an engineer of some type. I have one older sister who is a senior at Potomac, and a dog named Benji. My family and I love to travel, one of our most frequently visited places being Korea, which is where my mom’s family is from.
Anna Takis
I am Anna Takis, a sixteen-year-old from McLean, Virginia. I am a junior at The Potomac School, and this is my second year as a member of the robotics team. On our team, I build and journal. Although I am not very experienced in the programming aspect of robotics, I would love to learn to program. My interest in STEM started to grow when I began high school. Since then, besides joining the robotics team, I have taken many challenging math and science courses, attended a program at Berkeley focusing on neuroscience, and started to develop an in-depth independent project in my school’s Science and Engineering Research Concentration (SERC). As a junior in SERC, I have a solid proposal for a project involving a wound dressing for skin regeneration and am currently contacting mentors and starting to practice procedures. This year, I am excited to be taking AP Biology and AP Statistics to help further develop my understanding in these fields, which are relevant to my project. Although I’m only in high school, I am set on studying pre-med undergrad, and then focussing on pediatrics. I also enjoy many sports, and am a member of my school’s varsity tennis, varsity swimming, and varsity softball teams. Outside of school, I coach for my club’s swim team throughout the year, and also am involved in a program in which I teach disabled kids and teenagers play baseball and softball. I have a younger brother in eighth grade, and spend a lot of my free time with family and friends.
Hollis Cutler
I am Hollis Cutler and am from McLean, Virginia. I am a seventeen-year-old junior at the Potomac School. I have been a member of the robotics team for the past two years, since my sophomore year. On our team, I primarily build and drive. With teammate Whitney Bowen, I started a club for women in STEM at my school, which meets weekly to discuss issues surround female repression in science and technology related fields. I am a member of another club, TNT, where I tutor kindergarten-sixth grade classes in STEM fields. I take computer science classes at my school, and I’ve loved physics, math, biology, and chemistry. My current career goal is to be a pediatric surgeon, because I love being around children and am interested in the medical field. Outside of robotics, I play on my school’s varsity squash and varsity lacrosse teams, babysit, participate in Chinese club, and play soccer with disabled, younger kids. One of my passions is ceramics; I started ceramics as an independent study in eighth grade, and since then I have taken beginner, intermediate, and advanced classes in high school. I love animals, and I have two dogs, Mojo and Tucker. I have one older sister and one younger sister, with both of whom I love spending time.