Meet Arya Peruma
Arya Peruma currently attends Lorne Park Secondary School in Mississauga with an expected graduation in 2023, and is also a Machine Learning/AI Intern. She is the Founder of Coding for Young Minds, which provides complimentary STEM education for students and undertakes complimentary software development projects for non-profits. In her spare time, Arya enjoys coding, reading, writing and teaching.
When did your love of STEM begin?
At the age of seven, I came across a magazine article which highlighted the future of technology and coding. I was truly fascinated with this concept that appeared to have a great impact on how people operate in our day to day lives. Since then, I have always been fascinated with this scope, and my love for it has increased exponentially since then. Over the years I have had the opportunity to attend STEM oriented events and workshops, each giving me a taste of what STEM had to offer. One of these eye-opening moments was the McMaster University Engineering Program which I attended at age thirteen. This was a six-week summer program which high school students across Canada participated in. Through this, I had the opportunity to explore and research many aspects of STEM in the labs of McMaster University. I conducted research and developed projects for a variety of STEM applications such as engineering a robotic arm, an innovative machine which performs kidney dialysis on a patient and building an automated car with the aid of computer science and an Arduino. Through this experience, I really started to develop love for STEM and achieved an engineering scholarship from the Faculty of Engineering at McMaster University for my work. I continued to explore fields in STEM, but quickly discovered that my interests revolved around software engineering, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. Thinking back on my journey to become passionate about engineering and coding, I realized there were obstacles regarding accessibility to STEM and coding resources which stood in my path to become passionate about the matter. I wanted to ensure that other students had accessibility to these resources as well, and therefore founded Coding for Young Minds Community Organization at the age of fourteen. Through my organization I promote inclusivity and accessibility within STEM education by conducting a variety of workshops and free live STEM and coding tutoring sessions to help younger students to become passionate about the matter. I also assist companies with technological projects such as building websites. I am also a machine learning and AI researcher- currently researching about DNA expression microarrays so I can analyze a patient's DNA and predict their likeness to develop certain types of cancer through AI algorithms. I am also passionate about robotics and the integration of hardware and software, being part of a robotics team where I am a software developer.
What is the best part about working in the field of STEM?
It is undoubtedly true that there are numerous benefits to being dedicated towards STEM and working in it, however the greatest takeaway is the fact that you get to leverage it to become the next big innovator and create societal and world impact. My current research work revolves around predicting a patient's cancer before it forms by using the power of STEM and technology, as well as numerous AI algorithms which come into play. Through the magic of STEM, we can solve problems such as this that have the capability to impact and change millions of lives. I am an advocate for representation and inclusivity within the STEM field, as more new perspectives and minds are needed to advance the field and create a higher degree of societal impact. I have been a motivational speaker and have spoken for many organizations such as Broward County's education and the community justice department to share my story to uplift girls and people of colour. I founded Coding for Young Minds Community Organization at age fourteen, and through it I continue to work hard to even the playing field for girls and underrepresented groups. I have conducted free live STEM events and tutoring sessions, launched a STEM kit distribution program, and opened a Coding Lab in Mississauga where a variety of students can gain free hands-on experience with STEM and coding projects. My initiatives have benefitted over 6000 students worldwide, and I hope to continue expanding and reach an additional 50,000 students with my STEM initiatives by early 2023.
What advice would you give young women interested in a career in STEM?
Through my experience as working as a STEM innovator, researcher, social entrepreneur, and founder, many have asked me how to develop love and passion for coding and STEM. The simple answer to this is to start as young as possible. Everything is a process- especially sparking passion for STEM. The quest to spark passion and interest in STEM is one that is like a lot of other activities such as reading. We are taught reading at a young age for a plethora of reasons, particularly because doing this activity at a young age will help us develop our minds and get us accustomed and interested in it. The exact same principle can be followed for STEM as well. If there are not many opportunities in school to learn STEM, I encourage you to take initiative and take a stance to develop a passion. Talk to a teacher, mentor, parent- or do your own research! There is a plethora of resources available to help you spark passion at a young age. A resource you can visit is my community initiatives website: www.codingforyoungminds to find STEM blogs and live tutoring sessions on fun coding and STEM topics to help you get engaged. The first step to becoming interested in STEM is simply having the desire to want to discover what it has to offer, and the rest will follow.