Samya Ahsan

What if walking around could charge your phone? This is the question that sparked a years-long interest in developing alternative energy sources for Samya. Starting the summer of sophomore year, Samya developed efficient materials that transform scavenged ambient energy into a usable form of electricity. She utilized piezoelectric polymer composites to ultimately produce materials capable of generating 5-10 Volts from a simple tapping force at a significant cost decrease compared to similar materials. For this work, she received numerous awards at the regional and state level, and was named an Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) finalist in 2019. She also received a full scholarship from the Governor of Texas to conduct research in nanotech at the Governor’s Science & Technology Champions Academy that summer.

Later, Samya shifted her focus in nanotechnology towards biomedical engineering. She and her team developed handheld, portable devices for use in tissue engineering and emergency medical situations. The machines were created to allow instant biodegradable skin grafts to mold in-situ to a three-dimensional wound and effectively heal them while circumventing the limitations that arise when using autologous and allogeneic grafts.

Samya also has interests in computer science. She was Vice-President of her school’s Technology Student Association and was a 3x State Coding finalist. She also competed at the national level in similar events. Moreover, Samya was a regular open-source contributor, namely during the annual Google Code-In. Her interest in computer science was similarly reflected in her active participation in her school’s Association of Computing Machinery, Hack&&Make, and Society of Women Engineers chapters and workshops. She plans to continue exploring these interests in college.

In her free time, Samya has enjoyed hiking across more than twenty national parks, watching comedy specials, and trying her hand at the guitar.