Understanding calculus is critical to understanding the laws of the universe. Calculus’s elegance, precision, and predictability indicate there an underlying intelligence that designed the universe using the "tool" of calculus. Mankind has always had a spiritual longing and used calculus concepts to try to better understand the laws of nature and the order of the universe. Throughout history, math has been the common language used to explain our universe. For example, Sir Isaac Newton’s gravitational law calculated the clock-like mechanics of the universe. However, observations showed the planets, especially Mercury, shifted slightly with each orbit compared to calculus-based predictions based on his theory. This divergence, referred to as perihelion precession, was eventually explained through Albert Einstein’s General Relativity theory that mathematically accounted for the curvature of space-time near the Sun causing planets’ orbits to deviate. Calculus concepts have even been used to communicate beyond our solar system. For example, the Voyager spacecraft contains calculus concepts to communicate with potential extraterrestrial intelligence in a universal language. SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) uses calculus-based modeling to “listen” to possible communication technologies that alien lifeform might beam towards Earth. Understanding complex calculus mechanisms and the associated laws of nature has inspired me to become an engineer to understand and deploy the laws of nature to create novel engineering applications. My calling is to combine novel engineering and medical expertise to develop new ideas and bring them to market. I would like to study biomedical engineering and combine premedical courses into a unique, demanding curriculum that solves real-world problems. These diverse courses would be integrated into a unified curriculum that equips the foundation to serve society through innovating engineering solutions that advance the health of mind, body, and spirit. Following graduation, I’ll attend a medical school with a MD/PhD program. My educational journey has demonstrated I possess the desire and intellectual curiosity to succeed and become a future leader that drives positive engineering innovations. I founded my school’s model rocketry club and was a high school robotic team state champion. I’m ranked 31 out of 666 in my class and my GPA of 5.45 reflects my natural aptitude and dedication to academic excellence. My drive to understand the laws of the universe is more than scientific, it’s spiritual. Understanding complex calculus mathematical concepts brings me closer to the Creator who used calculus as a "tool" to create the universe. My educational aspirations will be limited without financial support. This scholarship will provide the financial fertilizer needed to grow into an engineering innovator. I would eventually like to lead an integrative cancer research facility to develop a wearable ultrasound prototype that opens and closes the blood-brain barrier to allow chemotherapy agents to pass through and reach brain cancer. Hopefully, my love of calculus could contribute to improving human health and a better understanding of the brain of both humans and their Creator.

My pending publication “Oral Body Temperature During Long Duration Spaceflight” demonstrates my interest in space exploration. This contribution to space operations laid the foundation for my desire to become an innovator and researcher capable of driving positive impactful change on and off world. During my Junior year, I had the honor to be selected to participate in the Texas High School Aerospace Scholars program. Based at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, this year-long learning experience takes place outside of school and provided interactive lessons and discussions with NASA scientist and engineers. During this course I read an article that showed astronauts’ baseline body temperature increased during long duration spaceflight. While this was a well-designed study, I was concerned that the body temperature measurements obtained from a forehead thermometer did not account for the increased forehead soft tissue thickness that results from microgravity induced cephalic fluid shift. Outside of my NASA Aerospace Scholars course, I collaborated with Johnson Space Center epidemiologists to develop my idea that challenged the established publication. Working with the epidemiologist, I obtained retrospective body temperatures collected via oral thermometers during routine ground and on-orbit astronaut medical exams so I could compare them with a forehead temperature data set. While my results showed no oral temperature differences, the forehead temperatures increased as astronauts experienced a cephalic fluid shift during spaceflight indicating the previously published study may have had a forehead measurement bias. This work has real-world implications on core body temperature calculations NASA uses when designing space suits and spacecraft. My journal submission is currently waiting for NASA export control. While my research provided important new data that questions a recognized publication, personally, it was an invaluable learning experience. Scientific inquiry doesn’t require advanced college degrees, expensive laboratories or million-dollar grants. The least experienced member of the scientific community was able to conceive an idea learned from the classroom, test the concept, and make connections between theory and practice. I’ve gained critical thinking skills while working through the scientific methods and have widened my depth of knowledge on space physiology, epidemiology, and statistics. The publication process has prepared me for college by enhancing several essential skills such as collaboration, communication, and scientific writing. This year, I am a Senior Mentor in the NASA Aerospace Scholars program where I mentor the junior students and participate in more advanced lessons and discussions with NASA scientist and engineers. I plan to perform a retrospective study outside the requirements of the course investigating NASA’s water purification’s (iodine) impact on astronaut health. Astronaut reliance on advanced technologies to maintain their health in the harsh environment of space inspired my desire to study biomedical engineering and provide novel engineering applications to injuries and diseases. My class rank of 30 out of 635 in my class and GPA of 5.46 (on 5.0 scale) reflects my natural aptitude and dedication to academic excellence. My high school courses and extracurricular activities have resolved around space related technology fields. I am the founder and co-president of my school’s model rocketry club, I placed in multiple science fairs, and was on the state champion high school robotic team. My volunteer work also “orbits” around spaceflight. I am a Student Ambassador at the Lone Star Flight Museum that houses retired space shuttle simulators and astronaut artifacts. My dream is to form a multidisciplinary team that develops compact wearable medical devices that could be deployed to space as well as address health disparities in less developed countries. For example, ultrasound prototype that can open the blood-brain barrier to allow chemotherapy agents to pass through and reach brain cancer cells.

My grandmother’s brain bleed was too small to drain, so she was observed in the ICU. She was eventually discharged, but the brain bleed and associated brain shift continued to grow larger with each sequential CT. At every appointment the local neurosurgeon said, “if it grows any bigger, we’ll have to operate”, but after each enlargement she continued to be observed. One morning, my grandmother woke up with a severe headache and blurred vision. This time, she went to a renowned hospital over an hour away where her life was saved by engineering devices integrated into healthcare. The persistent brain bleeding was halted with special tools used to clot off the leaking brain artery. A twist-drill was screwed into her skull to drain the existing blood. Her recovery was flawless with no bleeding recurrence. This seeded my desire to study biomedical engineering and provide novel engineering applications to neurological injuries and diseases, particularly brain cancer. Standard chemotherapy has difficulty reaching the brain because of the blood-brain barrier (BBB), an incredibly selective and protective membrane that isolates the brain from the rest of the body’s circulatory system. The blood-brain barrier is made of tightly joined cells that block toxic substances, diseases, and certain medications from entering brain tissue. While chemotherapy medications are effective at treating cancers in other parts of the body, they are often not able to cross the blood-brain barrier due to their chemical properties. Studies are underway to temporarily open the blood-brain barrier by focusing ultrasound beams on microbubbles that are injected into the boy. This process requires operator expertise along with expensive and bulky machines. My dream is to develop an everyday wearable ultrasound prototype that can open the blood-brain barrier to allow chemotherapy agents to pass through and reach brain cancer. This future technology would combine emerging ultrasound-on-a-chip imaging with promising gas vesicle nanotechnology to develop a wearable ultrasound that opens and closes the blood-brain barrier based on peaks and troughs of selected chemotherapeutic medications. Ultrasound-on-a-chip imaging miniaturizes a semiconductor chip that serves as both the transmitter and receiver for the ultrasound waves. Compared to traditional piezoelectric crystals, sensors built into the semiconductor chip can generate waves of frequencies across the entire ultrasound spectrum eliminating the need for multiple probes to change frequency and target depth. The chip-based technology allows ultrasound to become compact, portable, and affordable, making it possible to be wearable as a patch, hat frame, or even implantable. The wearable device can wirelessly connect to the cloud where machine learning can change the focus and frequency needed to open the control the door of the blood-brain barrier border based on when therapeutics need to be transported to the brain. Compared to conventional microbubble technology, gas vesicles are being explored as an alternative gas filled structure that can be injected into the body to induce cavitation and open the blood-brain barrier when targeted by a focused ultrasound beam. They are smaller and can move out of the blood vessels to target specific tissues improving the drug delivery precision and avoid damaging surrounding tissue. Gas vesicles are more stable, bio-compatible, and can tolerate higher pressures under focused ultrasound which may make them a superior gate keeper to the blood-brain barrier. I would eventually like to work in an integrative cancer research facility to develop a wearable ultrasound prototype that opens and closes the blood-brain barrier. Hopefully, my innovative ideas could contribute to research of using small particles to traffic therapies across the blood-brain barrier and drive positive impactful change in the world.