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Eliana Tillman-Schwartz

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Finalist

General information

Hobbies & Interests

  • Robotics
  • Cello
  • Fencing
  • Community Service And Volunteering
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Baking
  • Biomedical Sciences
  • Biology
  • Biotechnology
  • Biochemistry
  • Engineering
  • Computer Science
  • Advocacy And Activism
  • Anatomy
  • Chemistry
  • Concerts
  • Foreign Languages
  • Orchestra
  • Spanish
  • Science Olympiad
  • Volunteering
  • STEM

Reading

  • Adult Fiction
  • Adventure
  • Book Club
  • Academic
  • Fantasy
  • Health
  • History
  • Mystery
  • Novels
  • Science Fiction
  • Women's Fiction
  • Social Issues

I read books daily.

Bio

I'm an 18-year old aspiring biomedical engineer who will be attending Harvard University or Yale University in the fall in the class of 2028. Above all else, I'm passionate about expanding opportunities for women in STEM and strengthening global scientific literacy. Here's a bit about me and how I work towards my goal of creating universal access to and excitement about science! 1) Co-Captain of FIRST Tech Challenge Robotics team #18754 (GNCE) - Winner of 2023 FIRST World Championship Division Inspire Award (given to 4 teams worldwide per year) and 2022 Massachusetts State Champions 2) First author of research published in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology 3) Presented research poster at the American Society for Radiation Oncology annual conference (attended by 8,500+ physicians/year) 4) Founder/president of Ageless Science 501(c)(3) nonprofit (agelessscience.org) 5) Winner of National Merit Scholarship and Bart Kamen Memorial Scholarship (40k merit award) 6) Winner of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Rensselaer Medal - awarded for excellence in math and science (160k merit scholarship) 7) Scholastic Writing Gold Key: Critical Essay on CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing 8) Saint Michael’s College Book Award for Academic Achievement and Social Conscience 9) Rotary Rising Youth Leadership Award 10) 500+ volunteer hours

Education

Weston High

High School

2020 – 2024

Miscellaneous

Desired degree level:
Doctoral degree program (PhD, MD, JD, etc.)
Majors of interest:
Biomedical/Medical Engineering
Medical school interest:
No
Test scores:
  • ACT36

Career

  • Russian School of Mathematics Tutor

    Education · Served as a virtual tutor for students from 1st grade to 8th grade; instructed students struggling with homework assignments and taught curriculum to students who missed weekly classes

    Jan 2022 – Jan 2023

  • Private Community Tutor

    Education · Tutor in all academic subjects

    Jan 2021 – Present

  • Baker, Cashier, Expo

    Restaurants · Heirloom Restaurant

    Jan 2024 – Present

Miscellaneous

Dream career field:
Biomedical Engineering
Has nursing license:
No

Future Interests

  • Advocacy
  • Volunteering
  • Philanthropy
  • Entrepreneurship
Jiang Amel STEM Scholarship
“Nice looking robot you’ve got there. Glad you have a girl on the team to make it look that pretty.” As the only girl on my robotics team for nearly seven years, I have experienced countless male faculty direct their attention solely toward my male teammates, dismissing my ideas until they were repeated by a male counterpart. Most upsetting of all, I felt my own pride and excitement trampled at the peak of my accomplishment in robotics. In April 2023, my team won the FIRST Robotics World Championship Division Inspire Award– the highest distinction in our division, awarded to only four teams worldwide each year. Soon after winning, my elation evaporated when an event organizer walked by our booth and remarked, “Nice looking robot you’ve got there. Glad you have a girl on the team to make it look that pretty.” I stood reeling long after he walked away, the heat rising in my cheeks. I indignantly wanted to respond, “I was responsible for the physics torque calculations, technical documentation, and strategy development, and I’m Dean’s List Finalist and Co-Captain of this team!” But those words never came–only the feelings. While his comment stings even now, I have chosen to use this pain as fuel. As Co-President of Girl Up Club, a chapter of the United Nations nonprofit organization, I championed the formation of an all-girls team and founded a summer robotics program specifically targeted at empowering middle school girls in STEM. To ensure the legacy of these programs, my robotics teammates and I created a proposal in 2022 to construct our town’s first Robotics and Engineering Lab and collaborated in raising $100,000 in funding. We then created an instructional lab-building playbook and are now using this playbook to support the founding of 18 FIRST teams across Zimbabwe, Lesotho, and Malawi. Through founding these inclusive programs and mentoring FIRST Lego League students on a weekly basis, I have witnessed the joy on students’ faces as they tinker and begin their careers in STEM. I have not only reclaimed the sense of possibility I felt when I first joined robotics, but I have fostered that excitement and wonder in students of all ages and genders. Passionate about making science exciting and accessible to all– particularly those without a scientific background– I founded Ageless Science (agelessscience.org), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that brings high school students to senior living communities to lead scientific discussions. Together, we unite different generations by developing accessible discussion curriculums on topics ranging from nuclear energy to CRISPR gene editing. Leveraging these experiences, I plan to develop an elementary education curriculum to introduce students of all backgrounds to engineering at a young age. Further, my science blog on the Ageless Science website has led me to discover my enthusiasm for science journalism. I am committed to publishing accessible scientific writing that bridges the gap between STEM and the humanities. These leadership initiatives have sparked my lifelong passion for expanding universal scientific opportunities for students of all ages. Together, we can create a future where age and gender are just numbers and letters– a world in which we are united over our passions rather than divided by our differences.
Eliana Tillman-Schwartz Student Profile | Bold.org