The CAGIS Youth STEM Awards recognize the outstanding achievements of girls, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming youth aged 7-17 in Canada, who have exhibited excellence in STEM innovation, equity, or communication. The CAGIS Youth STEM Awards will reopen in summer 2023.
Meet the 2022 CAGIS Youth STEM Award Winners
CAGIS Synapse Award for STEM Innovation awarded to 11-year-old Aleena Sarikaya
This award celebrates girls, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming youth who have demonstrated their passion for STEM through innovation. Aleena used JavaScript to build the Plastic Pollution Quiz App. Users can take a quiz to learn about the effects of plastic pollution on our environment. At the end of the quiz, users can see their score, get an eco-star badge, and take the quiz again based on what they learned. Aleena hopes to create a better and more sustainable future for all.
An honourable mention in this category goes to 14-year-old Mariam Sarikaya.
CAGIS Seismic Impact Award for Equity in STEM awarded to 17-year-old Sukhman Sunner
This award recognizes girls, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming youth who have made a difference in their communities with their efforts to make science, technology, trades, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) more equitable, diverse, inclusive, or accessible for underrepresented groups in STEM.
Over the past year and a half, Sukhman has volunteered over 355 hours leading hackathons with the organization STEM1, to make engineering and coding more accessible for BIPOC students. She took the initiative to teach herself HTML and CSS through online course, so she could instruct the students and answer questions about their projects and designs. When she realized that some families could not participate because of financial hardship, she pitched and implemented a financial aid form for students who could not pay the $20 entry fee. Sukhman aims to create a wider community of BIPOC individuals in engineering and technology.
An honourable mention in this category goes to 16-year-old Nasreen Mir.
CAGIS Supernova Award for STEM Communication awarded to 11-year-old Bhavishyaa Vignesh
This award recognizes girls, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming youth who are sharing and communicating their passion for STEM.
Bhavishyaa has been practicing STEM Communication for 3 years via her Linkedin, Twitter, and YouTube accounts. She regularly shares posts and videos about her programming projects, linked to artificial intelligence and remote sensing. She has amassed nearly 2,000 followers across her platforms! Bhavishyaa hopes to motivate younger girls to not be afraid to seek a career in the STEM industry.
An honourable mention in this category goes to 14-year-old Shifa Hussain.