This year, the candidates were asked to write about their favorite tech invention of the past 10 years while also sharing their goals as a Dynamic Woman in STEM. The winners of the Dynamic Edge Women in STEM Scholarship 2022 are Rachel Todromovich from Michigan and Averie Kulbeda from Tennessee.
Rachel Todromovich attends Bloomfield Hills High School in Bloomfield Township, Michigan and her biography reads, “I’ve had a passion for STEM, especially math and science, my whole life. I would often carry around a thick encyclopedia of science facts, ready to whip it out and start reading anytime I had a spare moment. I’ve taken as many math and science classes that my high school allows me to take and I’m excited to learn so much more as I pursue one of the many STEM degrees the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor has to offer. My goal is to earn bachelor’s degree in science and then go through medical school to become an ophthalmologist. My passion for learning and my desire to make a positive impact on the world around me fuels my every action.”
Averie Kulbeda attends Beech High School in Goodlettsville, Tennessee and her biography reads “I’m an upcoming senior with an intense love for the natural world and its connection to human issues. I take specific interest in ecology and environmental science- and even more specifically, to the ways in which fungi may be the solution to many of our human and environmental issues. Because of this, I am currently aspiring to research mycology as a career. But outside of science, I am also an intense artist. I’ve won multiple scholastic awards and scholarships for my work, and art is one of my most intense passions in life.”
As a leading IT services provider in Ann Arbor and Nashville, Dynamic Edge helps people every day through their superior client service. The team is always striving to support its local communities in new and innovative ways, this scholarship offering being one of them.
The next Dynamic Edge Women in STEM Scholarship submission period will begin in Spring of 2023 on the Bold.org platform.
Rachel Todromovich
Rachel Todromovich of Bloomfield Township, MI
Imagine you were able to buy a device that would prolong your life for 20 years, 30 years, or maybe even more. . . would you do it? As of 2014, this question is no longer a hypothetical. My favorite tech invention of the last 10 years is the 3D-printed heart sleeve or ‘electronic glove’ as the Independent calls it. When I first saw this piece of tech, I marveled at the design and I was almost in disbelief of what it could do. It seemed like something straight out of a science-fiction movie. There have of course been advancements and progress in the design, as recent as 2020, and scientists hope to put this life-saving device to use in the coming years. A combination of biology, medicine, and technology, the device uses a web of sensors and electrodes to tap into the heart’s electrical activity and mitigate heart conditions like restarting your heart in the event of cardiac arrest. This is my favorite invention because it combines fields that I’m interested in as careers, medicine and technology, into one life-changing innovation. This device pushes the boundaries humans have established between life and death as well as the boundaries in healthcare today. Heart disease is one of the leading causes of death in America and a device like this could help significantly reduce these numbers if it’s used among the general public. It can prolong people’s lives as well as improve their quality of life. It can also spark discourse about difficult situations: if an individual is brain dead without any possibility of recovery, should this device still be operating in the patient’s body? Would this life-saving device have the greatest positive impact on the world, considering economic status? New technology, especially in the medical field, comes with so many considerations, which makes them even more of a hot topic. This device is incredibly captivating and I personally look forward to future developments. As I’ve mentioned, I’ve had a lifelong interest in medicine and technology, and plan to pursue a career in medicine as I go through undergraduate and medical schooling. I’m old enough to remember when my parents upgraded their flip phones to the very first iPhone models and when my elementary school upgraded our computer lab from clunky early-generation Macs to sleek Dell computers. I’ve seen an enormous amount of technological advancements in my short lifetime and medicine is no exception. Advancements such as the heart sleeve mentioned above is something that improves life expectancy for afflicted individuals but more importantly, it can improve a person’s quality of life. Going into this field, that’s my top priority. I want to utilize innovations in biology and technology to improve quality of life for future patients.
Averie Kulbeda
Averie Kulbeda of Goodlettsville, TN
To many, the word “technology” immediately brings to mind something modern and artificial. Complex coding and algorithms, intricate machinery, potent chemical reactions- it’s perceived as exclusively synthetic, the antonym of nature itself. However, by definition, technology is simply the application of scientific knowledge to the practical aims of life; an invention can be a process rather than a complex robot or device. Because of the common perception that technology is “unnatural,” one of my favorite inventions of this decade relates to something rather unexpected: fungi. Beneath the dark soil of the forest, an intricate web of delicate tendrils grows, connecting every living thing, from the tallest tree to the humblest plant. This web is known as mycelium, the vegetative part of fungi that’s used to break down organic matter into nutrients. It hosts a network of extraordinarily fine, yet durable, hyphae, which is constructed into complex structures that allow forests to communicate and share resources. Scientists at Ecovative, a company dedicated to growing sustainable materials, invented a revolutionary way to utilize mycelium in 2012 called AirMycelium: a method that manipulates the mycelium via controlled conditions and specialized growing chambers. This system takes advantage of a natural process known as cytokinesis, in which mycelium fills all available space by weaving its hyphae, optimizing growth and strength while wasting little energy. Through this process, scientists are able to coax the mycelium into forming thick mats that can replicate other organic structures, creating a sustainably revolutionary biomaterial. This can be utilized to create a variety of products, including synthetic bacon, faux leather, packing foam, and even construction materials- and once it’s harvested, the product leaves only a biodegradable compost behind. By working in tandem with nature, Ecovative has created an entirely sustainable biomaterial that might just be our future- and the Earth’s. However, biomaterials are just the beginning; fungi have immense potential in the realms of medicine, food, sustainability, and the preservation of our ecosystems. This potential is what fuels my fascination with fungi, stemming from my life-long connection with nature. When I was younger, this connection manifested as catching frogs in my backyard, creating habitats and studying them for hours at a time. As I’ve matured, I’ve turned to exploring the unknown, constantly researching the natural world around me. I spend much of my free time wandering the woods identifying every species of fungi I encounter, recording their conditions of growth, collecting specimens, and researching their historical and modern usages in order to understand their specific role in our ecosystem. Fungi is the most intricate and vital aspect of our ecosystem’s communication, functioning as something akin to a “brain,” and yet we’ve hardly scratched the surface of its capabilities. It connects a cycle beyond our comprehension, allowing organisms to feed off each other and communicate in ways we have yet to understand. This cycle is precisely why I aspire to study ecology and mycology as a career. Humanity has so much left to learn from fungi in every context. I aim to uncover the secrets of this vital network by researching fungi within the ecosystems they support, and analyzing ways in which we can utilize its intelligence to save our planet. By working in tandem with fungi to create sustainable products, and using it to further understand our ecosystems, the potential of what we can create is astonishing. In just the past decade, so much has been discovered regarding the capabilities of fungi; imagine how much more humanity can discover in the years to come. It’s inevitable; fungi are the future, and I aspire to be a part of it.
