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Ángela Elena Olazarán Laureano, a 17-year-old Mexican student who developed an AI-powered virtual medical assistant and advocates for girls to pursue STEM careers, has been named the winner of the Chegg.org Global Student Prize 2024. The US$100,000 sister award to the Global Teacher Prize is given to one exceptional student who has made a real impact on learning, the lives of their peers, and on society beyond. She was selected from over 11,000 nominations and applications from 176 countries around the world.
Ángela accepted the award in New York during UN General Assembly week.
Ángela is studying Information Technology and Digital Business Engineering at Anáhuac University Veracruz, Xalapa campus. She helped create Ixtlilton, a prize-winning AI-powered virtual medical assistant that can currently diagnose 21 diseases based on a series of questions. Designed with local medics during COVID-19, Ixtlilton aims to help people living in remote areas or long distances from a medical center, by helping them determine whether they require medical care. In Papantla, where Ángela lives, certain communities are forced to travel one hour to reach their closest medical center. The tool could be especially useful in marginalized communities, which have struggled with doctor shortages. Moreover, once downloaded onto a device such as a mobile phone or computer, Ixtlilton does not require internet access. With just 56% of Mexico’s rural populations having internet access, this could be hugely beneficial for those who currently face limited connectivity. Papantla’s city hall is currently working to connect Ángela and the Ixtlilton team to local pharmacies and medical centers that may wish to encourage their patients to use the tool.
As a medal winner in both national and international robotics competitions, Ángela is also a leading light of STEM education – not only in her hometown of Papantla de Olarte, Veracruz, but also across Mexico and Latin America. In November 2021, her team entered the National Robotics Competition in the “Home Care Challenge” category, in which they won first place at the state and national level. She won the STEM Talent Award: National Student Prize Mexico 2022, organized by Movimiento STEM+. In 2023, international success came to Ángela with two silver medals in the RoboRAVE World Championship international robotics competition, competing against countries such as China, Australia and Canada.
Ángela has spoken at the Mexican Senate of the Republic about the importance of including STEM careers in the Mexican curriculum, alongside developing socio-emotional skills in students. Earlier this year, she and her Nakú Robotics team participated virtually in a conference on AI and Space Education that was held at NASA’s Houston Space Center.
Ángela plans to use the $100,000 Chegg.org Global Student Prize funds to create and install a STEM classroom in Veracruz.
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