Livingston Students Win STEM Ambassador Award with STEM Surge Program

LIVINGSTON, NJ — A group of Livingston students recently received the prestigious STEM Ambassador Award at the East CACS Symposium for their outstanding contribution to promoting science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education through an innovative program they established called STEM Surge.

The award, presented to the STEM Surge team during the symposium held at the Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy in Piscataway, recognizes the program's commitment to inspiring and empowering the next generation of STEM leaders.

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In a joint statement, founders Claire Cheng, Kailin Kang, Benjamin Sun, Annie Jiang, Rishi Shah, Wesley Yang and Rewa Jain said that this recognition “is a testament to the dedication of [their] team in inspiring the next generation of STEM leaders” and “motivates [them] to continue onwards with [their] mission, knowing that [their] contributions are meaningful and valued by the broader scientific and educational community.”

“Receiving the award was surprising and unexpected,” said Yang. “This award showed how we worked hard for it and that we are making an impact.”

Sun added that receiving the award was “one of the first big milestones” for the organization, indicating that their efforts in promoting STEM education “were aligned in the right direction.”

Through STEM Surge, the founders aim to expand STEM education to young people worldwide, regardless of their economic status.

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Shah explained that in the beginning, STEM Surge was “just a group of friends who were all anxious about their upcoming Biology Characteristics of Life test in their first week of Bio Honors at Livingston High School.”

“During the summer, we would choose a quiet spot to hang out, study, and play Hangman on the word ‘allele,’” she said. “What brought us together was not only the nightmares of high school, but also the acknowledgment of STEM—we all knew the importance of it…Nevertheless, after high school started, for a while, workloads were rapidly increasing among our courses, thus reluctantly closing off our monthly get-togethers in order to cram for projects at 2 a.m. Then all of a sudden, as the school year was coming to an end, the workload started getting simpler and simpler and simpler...and then we realized, ‘Hey, we just survived all of our classes.’”

Zheng added that courses such as biology would have been much easier for the freshmen if they had “more connections with sophomores or upperclassmen, and they had given [them] some crucial points to prepare.”

Prior to entering freshman biology, Shah said that she and many of her friends “had no idea what to expect in the difficulty of the course and the amount of work we would have to do to be successful.” Even after they got used to the workload, Shah said they “realized that the stress that all of [their] classes, especially biology, was increasing.”

“We often met to study and work on assignments,” said Jiang. “It was then that we realized that we should give the same help that we needed for the kids that were coming to high school in the following year.”

The group explained that STEM SURGE was originally created for the Honors Biology Prep Camp, sharing that “everyone in eighth grade felt unprepared for the shift that was about to come when going into freshman year.”

“People from previous years and teachers had all said that it was going to be difficult for us to shift over,” said Shah. “After getting the idea, I told my friends about this, and they agreed. Along the process, we realized that we wanted to teach to fundraise money for charity because not everyone has the same opportunities for us. And it became our mission: we started many programs and services to raise money for charity and to help out the STEM community in New Jersey by sending volunteers to STEM conventions, programs, and more.”

During the recent symposium, the STEM SURGE team made significant strides in advancing the program’s mission and promoting STEM education.

The founding members competed in various events at the symposium, including a research poster session where they presented their research on new AI technologies in the biomedical field. They also participated in discussions led by chief executive officers (CEOs) and officers of companies such as Fosun Pharma and Exxon Mobil.

The STEM Surge founders were recognized for their passion and dedication to STEM alongside students from Princeton, UPenn, and Rutgers.

In addition to this recent accomplishment, the members of STEM Surge have collectively volunteered more than 150 hours and raised more than $1,000 for various causes over the last five months.

“These milestones might be small, but it is huge leaps for a small nonprofit like ours,” said Shah.

STEM SURGE prioritizes affordability to reach a wider audience and fulfill the group’s mission of creating a more inclusive STEM community.

Throughout the year, the group offers a wide range of programs aimed at supporting students in STEM fields, such as virtual and in-person tutoring, as well as summer camps. This year’s summer camp, to be held from Aug. 19 through Aug. 23, is tailored for aspiring biology students, and particularly those preparing for Biology Honors.

“Our summer camp is going to be in-person, online, and available for anyone who would like to join,” said Shah. “We want to teach kids as interactive as possible. We will be covering the syllabus and sharing our best study habits, something that is crucial to learn to be successful, in a 25-hour intensive summer course. The course registration is still open.”

A variety of weekly math, science and coding classes are also available this summer, as well as one-on-one tutoring services at the individual student’s convenience.

To learn more about STEM Surge or to register for one of these summer programs, visit thestemsurge.org or contact the team at stemsurge3@gmail.com.

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