STEAM in AI: Stand Out in College Applications with AI, Design Thinking, Entrepreneurship and Ethics with Stanford Prof Recently Updated

Testimonials(5)

• "Through STEAM in AI, I built something meaningful and gained skills I never imagined I'd have. Working with STEAM in AI was a transformative experience for me. I created a sentiment analysis tool to help teens and young adults entering the workforce audit their social media presence and ensure their content reflects their best selves. When I started, I barely knew Python. Over time—thanks to the guidance of my mentor, Troy Kling, a PhD student at UC Santa Barbara—I learned the fundamentals of machine learning and built an AI-powered tool that connects with Twitter’s API, analyzes posts, and helps users take action on potentially harmful content. Beyond coding, I learned real lessons in project management, the importance of pacing myself, and the power of collaboration—especially the value of writing clear code that others can build on. I shared this project on my college applications to show my dedication to using technology ethically and for social impact. STEAM in AI helped me discover a true passion for computer science, and I’m excited to keep learning and building tools that make a difference. Thank you, DataEthics4All, for helping me find my path."

  - Marcel Gentles - September 23, 2023

• "Hello, my name is Alexa Torres, and through the summer cohort, I learned how to make a machine learning project using MRI images from Stanford. We created a model that could tell us whether the images showed ACL tears or not. Some of the challenges I had were actually getting the model to work and properly plotting it on a scatter plot using Python and different packages. My mentor really helped a lot by setting time aside and giving thorough, full explanations on anything I asked about. My biggest learning experience through this program was definitely all the data implementation using code—looking through it in code and not manually—converting everything through code. Doing everything programmatically instead of one by one was a huge shift for me. The new skills I acquired were definitely around automating things with code rather than doing them manually. That was a big improvement. Research-wise, I don’t think I changed too much, but I did improve in one way: I got better at looking for solutions when I was stuck—taking initiative to figure things out and understand them on my own. STEAM in AI helped me think more seriously about my college and career path. I was already set on majoring in computer science and going into the CS field, and this program really reinforced that decision. I would recommend this program to anyone who wants to experiment and see if computer science, coding, and data science are something they’d like to pursue in the future and stick with."

  - Alexa Torres - September 11, 2023

• "Hello everyone! My name is Julia Kesman, and I'm a recent graduate of the STEAM in AI program. I'm also now an incoming freshman at Duke University, and I want to share with you a little bit about how the program helped me get to where I am today. Through STEAM in AI, I worked on a project with peers under the guidance of a mentor, where I constructed an AI model to analyze MRIs for ACL tears of the knee. The experience really gave me the perfect essay topic for many of the colleges I was applying to. I discussed in depth how I extracted and labeled thousands of images, applied clustering algorithms, and generated matrices. Anyone who participates in the STEAM in AI program will have an amazing and impressive story to share like this one with many different colleges. It will boost you significantly in the admissions process. But beyond that, you will learn so much—and it will set you up for future success."

  - Julia Kessman, Incoming Freshman at Duke University - June 24, 2024

• "Hi, my name is Chloe Fang, and I’m an upcoming senior at Milpitas High School. During this program, I wanted to learn more about architecture and buildings, and I hoped to create a program that could help classify and sort different types of buildings. So, I decided to focus on two specific building sets—one called Terminal Towers and the other the Flatiron Building. When I first started, I didn’t really know what I was getting myself into. I didn’t have much experience with coding or Python, so it was definitely a struggle at the beginning to understand the concepts and how everything worked. But by working with my mentor, Juliana, I started to get the hang of it. She really helped guide me through the parts I was struggling with—whether it was my code not working or needing help figuring out how to solve something. She always nudged me in the right direction, and I’m really grateful to have had her as my mentor. Throughout this program, I got to explore different uses of AI and really understand how coding can be applied in various ways. It gave me a clearer picture of what’s possible in engineering and technology. At the start of the program, I was undecided about what I wanted to major in. I knew I wanted to study engineering, but I wasn’t sure which type. After this experience, I became much more interested in computer science, and now I’m planning to pursue it further in college. I would definitely recommend this program to other students—especially those who are curious about AI or engineering. This was a really helpful and enjoyable experience overall. Thank you, STEAM in AI!"

  - Chloe Fang - June 5, 2025

• " Hi, my name is Yi Cheng, and I recently completed the STEAM in AI College Prep Program. Overall, I’d rate my experience a 5 out of 5—it was an incredibly valuable opportunity. This program helped me create a project that not only demonstrated my dedication to programming and AI but also showed how much I care about giving back to my community. It became a strong part of my college application, and I’d rate my enjoyment of the project a full 5 stars as well. In terms of skills, I gained hands-on experience in research methodology, setting up and running experiments, and thinking critically about data and AI ethics. While my career goals didn’t necessarily change, this program gave me new insight into the world of AI and helped me explore areas I hadn't experienced before. Working with my mentor was also a highlight of the program. I felt fully supported throughout the process—whenever I had a question, he always answered it clearly and with deep knowledge of the topic. That support really helped me grow and feel confident in my learning. If I had one suggestion, it would be to spend less time on the machine learning basics for those of us who already have some background—just to allow for more advanced exploration. But other than that, everything about the program was fantastic. Thank you, STEAM in AI, for an amazing experience!"

  - Yi Cheng - May 21, 2025