Bio Challenge Team 2020

The Visión Verde 2020 Biodesign Challenge Program

This 2020 Biodesign Challenge team consisted of four East San Jose high school students who meet at the AYA East San Jose STEM Workshop to explore biomaterials to create sustainable designs that address community needs. Team Instructor is Corinne Takara. Official team Biodesign Challenge Mentor is Rolando Perez, PhD Candidate in the Stanford Department of Bioengineering. [Team website].

From left to right: Kim Mesa (Board President of the Alliance for Youth Achievement), Corinne Takara (BDC Challenge Instructor), Cuauhtemoc, Mia, Addie, Penny (BDC Visión Verde team), Rolando Perez (BDC Mentor) and Rosa Maria Gordillo (Veggielution Education Coordinator).

Team profiles from the 2020 Vision Verde Biodesign Challenge team, CocoBucha

Addie Fey

Addie Fay is a freshman at Yerba Buena high school who has been in a science and math program called MESA for four years and has been participating in the AYA Art & Design Thinking Summer Camp for five years. She has done similar competitions and projects in the past and is a fan of art, creation and science.

Juan Flores

Hello my name is Juan. I like to play video games and fishing. I joined Vision Verde because I thought it would be fun and also a new experience.The way I found out about Vision Verde was by a STEM after school club I'm in. The advisor showed the challenge to us and I thought it would be fun.

Cuauhtemoc Martinez Marquez

Cuauhtemoc Martinez Marquez is a freshman in Evergreen Valley High School. Fortunate enough to become a part of a mathematical, engineering, and science achieving program, he has been able to succeed and place in a variety of different competitions. He takes interest in designing, fashion, and environmental conservation. Using creativity as a skill, he raises ideas, and tries to analyze problems to identify a solution.

Penny Medina Sanchez

Penny Medina Sanchez is an eighth grader at Castillero Middle School who has been participating in competitive soccer for 5 years. On the side, she works as a youth leader for AYA and has been attending the Art & Design Thinking Camp for 4 years.

Instructor: Corinne Okada Takara

Corinne is a San Francisco Bay Area artist/STEAM educator who works with museums, libraries and after school programs to create art/technology workshops that celebrate culture and creativity to empower community voices in conversations centered on civic spaces, identity, and the future of technology. She develops programming out of her garage makerspace, the Nest. This is her second year guiding a Biodesign Challenge teen team. Takara was honored at the 2019 Biodesign Challenge Summit with the Outstanding Instructor Award. She has collaborated with Alum Rock San Jose youth on art projects since 2006, (both in the classroom and in informal learning spaces). A collection of these projects have received local and national recognition for community impact and innovation. She envisioned and brought to life the AYA Art & Design Thinking Camp in 2013 in collaboration with the AYA. Takara is also co-founder of BioJam, a camp pilot program that engages teens through their own creativity and culture in bioengineering and biomaterial design as pathways for them to share their learning back in their home communities. Corinne's art can be found at: http://www.okadadesign.com/

BDC Mentor: Rolando Perez

Rolando is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Bioengineering at Stanford University and a Salinas, CA native that develops technology to support a more democratic, equitable, and sustainable future. He works with others to decolonize STEM, dismantle school-to-prison pipelines, and build alternative opportunity structures for disenfranchised communities. Rolando is a Hartnell Community College Panther, a UC Santa Cruz Banana Slug, and a Stanford University Cardinal. Rolando’s research experience spans biotechnology, nanotechnology, metamaterials, and computer-aided drug discovery. He is currently developing standard materials, measures, and methods for mycological production, a platform technology that produces high value commodities such as textiles, construction materials, or pharmaceuticals from waste streams and filamentous fungi. Rolando has co-authored two peer-reviewed scientific papers, has been recognized with numerous awards for his research, and is frequently invited to speak on various topics such as research excellence, technology, education, and STEM outreach. He is also the cofounder of the community action space, Xinampa.

2020 Biodesign Challenge Team