Meet the Team

Leadership

Jialian Gan

President

Jialian is a student at Orange County School of Arts. She has had a passion for Aerospace Engineering inherited by a great deal of exploration in her youth. She is inspired by the idea of traveling in space and the finer details of space in general. There are also so many other sectors of STEM that pique her interest, leading her to join the organization. She is responsible for updating the Ascending STEM social media channels for instagram and youtube, Jialian participated in the Ascending Stem activities from the start. Also considered to be the lead of graphic design– she is responsible for the creation of the logo for the organization.

Michelle Cheng

Vice President

Michelle is a freshman at Northwood High School. She is interested in STEM-related subjects, specifically Biology. In middle school, she participated in her school’s Science Olympiad team in which she competed for both 2 years and succeeded at national tournaments for one. She consistently won medals over the year for studying microbiology while at Science Olympiad Nationals 2024, she won 1st for flight/building a plane with the most successful fly time and placed 6th place for her physics tower build. Apart from academic achievements, she loves to be involved within a community and be surrounded by people that have similar interests to her.

Chicago Hamada

Director, Digital Media and Arts

Chicago is a freshman at the Orange County School of the Arts, where he majors in the Piano Conservatory program. Alongside winning multiple piano competitions, he has developed a strong passion for astronomy, physics, and STEM education. During middle school, he competed on the Sierra Vista Science Olympiad team, earning multiple medals in events including Reach for the Stars and Optics. Through these experiences, he cultivated both a deep curiosity for science and strong problem-solving skills.

Chicago hopes to use his STEM background to contribute to the Ascending STEM program by inspiring younger students and supporting the local community through science education. He is especially interested in making STEM more engaging, accessible, and exciting for students who are eager to explore new ideas and expand their understanding of the world around them.

Alex Fang

Director, Information Technologies

Alex Fang is an 11th-grade student at Troy High School with interests in biology, technology, and STEM education. He is especially interested in how scientific thinking and digital tools can be used to solve real-world problems and make STEM more accessible to students.

Outside of academics, he is involved in orchestra and soccer, balancing his interests in science, music, athletics, and community service.

Judy Chen

Director, Community Outreach

Judy Chen is a 11th-grade student at Portola High School. Mainly interested in psychology, biology, and astronomy. Especially child development, the immune system, and black holes but is especially open to new things. STEM caught her attention because of the abundance of opportunities available inside. Takes a very relaxed approach to most things and tends to dive head first into something new.

Keily Huang

Director, Media Marketing

Keily is currently a 10th-grade student at Arnold O. Beckman High School who is passionate for robotics engineering.

Beyond robotics, Keily is a competitive dancer, a talented artist in graphic design and a dedicated musician, who enjoys the vibrant atmosphere of orchestra and chamber music performances as a skilled Cellist.

Set to serve as an engineering lead at AscSTEM, Keily also extends her support to various activities at the Ascending organizational level.

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse