David Ziwei Smith

Co-founder & President

Science Olympiad national medalist and Team Captain. TEAMS national champion (Presentation) and medalist. Won numerous medals at Science Olympiad Regional, State and National, including multiple championships in various physics and engineering events, and Experimental Design. Mentored Kennedy Science Olympiad teams. Tournament Director of 2020 STEMBoost Invitational. Event Supervisor for Bomilever and Experimental Design, Co-organizer of Kennendy Invitational (2019,2020).  

Grace Kuo

Vice President of Marketing and Design

Grace Kuo is a rising senior at Monta Vista with a passion for the applications of machine learning and art.  She’s competed and medalled in Science Olympiad on a regional, state, and national level since 2016, focusing on chemistry and inquiry-based events.  Outside of STEMBoost, she serves as the President of SparX, PR for LEO Club, and Webmaster for La Pluma and MV Science Olympiad.  As someone who loves teaching, Grace is a student tutor at MVHS Chemistry Club, and a Writing Tutor for Honors American Literature. She loves Studio Ghibli films, spicy noodles, and Lofi music.

Flora Huang

Vice President of Communications and PR

Competed and medalled in Science Olympiad and Science Bowl, with a focus on Earth Science and Chemistry. VP of Lynbrook Science Club, and avid researcher exploring Pulmonary Hypertension at the Stanford Medical Center. President of the Girls Who Code San Jose club, USACO Gold and AIME qualifier, and United States Earth Science Olympiad national competitor.​

Dylan Yang

Vice President of Operations

​Competed in Science Olympiad in 2017 and 2018. Won multiple medals at State and National competitions.  Competed in chemistry, engineering, and inquiry-based events. Mentors Science Olympiad teams and is interested in chemistry.

Saarang Kashyap

Head of Curriculum

Senior at Monta Vista High School. Won National Science Olympiad State/Regional medals since 2017 (Div C/B) and National Competitor in 2018. Additionally a 2-time USA BioOlympiad semifinalist and Toronto National BioOlympiad Honors Scholar. President of Monta Vista Bio Club and Vice President of Monta Vista Science Olympiad Club. Mentors SO teams and loves teaching science.

Leela Srinivas

Secretary

Leela Srinivas is a rising junior at Monta Vista High School and is the Vice President of Engineering in Monta Vista Science Olympiad. She's participated in Science Olympiad for the past four years and has competed at the national level twice, winning multiple medals and helping Kennedy win the 2019 National Tournament.

Conner Yin

Division Head of Computer Science

Conner Yin is a rising senior at Monta Vista High School with a passion for programming. He is currently an AP Computer Science TA and a USACO Gold contestant. Last summer, he attended the Video Game Design cluster at COSMOS and also hosted the first TeamsCode coding competition in California. In his free time, he loves to compose songs for his YouTube channel and loves to play all kinds of video games and board games.​​

Edwin Xie

Division Head of Physics and Math

USPhO Semifinalist, Science Olympiad National medalist in Engineering and Physics events, and USAJMO Qualifier, mentored for junior Science Olympiad teams. 

Deetshana Parthipan

Director of Marketing Outreach

Deetshana is a rising junior at Monta Vista High School. She was the life and earth science event captain for the national-winning Kennedy Science Olympiad team. She has won numerous medals for biology and earth science events at the regional, state, and national levels. Deetshana is also a competitive speaker winning many medals at competitions. She was a branch head at the Monta Vista Speech and Debate Team and Kennedy Middle.

Aseem Rajopadhye

Division Lead of Zoology, Paleontology, and Space Science

Aseem Rajopadhye is an incoming junior at Monta Vista High School. He has participated in Science Olympiad for the past five years, appearing twice at national competitions and won countless medals in Geology, Paleontology, Biology, and Astronomy fields, some of which on a State and National level. He was captain of the team that won the 2018-2019 Science Olympiad Division B Nationals and has been selected for a Rosetta Institute Program for Bioinformatics of Cancer

Ryan Li

Director of Facilities

Ryan Li is a rising junior at Monta Vista High School. He has been a TA for 9th Grade Biology, and is very passionate about the fields of biology and chemistry. Ryan is also a Scholastic Writing Awards winner and has two sci-fi books published. He is looking forward to giving incoming freshman an overview of 9th grade Biology.

Amol Rama

Director of Operations

Amol Rama is a rising sophomore at Monta Vista High School. He has participated in Science Olympiad over the past four years, making two national appearances and winning numerous medals in Earth Science, Physics, and Chemistry events. In the 2019-2020 season, he was the co-captain of the Science Olympiad team. In addition, he has qualified for the AIME multiple times, been awarded the AMC 10 Distinguished Honor Roll multiple times, and made USAJMO in 2019. Furthermore, he has been a teacher's assistant in mathematics for the last two years.

Angela Zhang

Director of Design/Advertising

Angela Zhang is a rising sophomore at Monta Vista High School. For two years on the Kennedy Science Olympiad team, she has medaled in almost every single event she has participated in, including medals at regionals, states, and nationals. She has also achieved the Semifinalist status in the USA BioOlympiad competition, and continues to mentor incoming Kennedy Gold team members.

Arthur Perng

Cybersecurity Team Lead

Arthur Perng is an up and coming sophomore who has participated in Science Olympiad and won national medals. In high school, he has focused on programming and cybersecurity skill building. He founded the cybersecurity club Fweefwop, as well as qualified for AIME. Fweefwop placed in Platinum in CyberPatriot-XII and was a finalist in the Bay Area Regional contest.

Iona Xia

Director of PR & Outreach

Iona Xia is a rising sophomore at Monta Vista High School. She has participated in Science Olympiad for over four years, and went to nationals twice, winning numerous medals in states and nationals including a national champion medal. She has also qualified for AIME.

Joseph Lee

Director of Communications

Joseph Lee is an incoming sophomore at Monta Vista High School. He has won numerous Science Olympiad medals for biology, astronomy, and flight engineering events at the regional, state, and national levels from 2017-2020, participating at National Competitions twice. He medaled in all three of his events in the National Champion team, of which he was Co-Team Captain and Event Captain for Space, Biological Sciences, and Flight Engineering. He is also a mentor for the Kennedy Middle School Science Olympiad Gold Team.

Daphne Guo

Logistics Coordinator

Daphne Guo is a rising sophomore at Monta Vista High School. She participates in Science Bowl and Science Olympiad. Over the last two years, she earned many medals for Earth and Space events, and was the Event Captain for Earth, Space and Physical Sciences of the Science Olympiad National Champion Team. She also qualified for the AIME.

Eric Ju 

Activities Coordinator

Eric is a rising sophomore at Monta Vista High School. He has been a part of the Science Olympiad for 3 years and has participated in the national tournament twice. He is also a key member of the cybersecurity club Fweefwop, where he focuses on cryptography. 

Varun Kumaravelu 

Social Event Coordinator

Varun Kumaravelu is a Biology Event Captain with the Monta Vista Science Olympiad team, and has competed in Science Olympiad for four years, and was a member of the team that won the 2019 Division B National tournament. He has won innumerable medals in Paleontology, Herpetology, Astronomy, Genetics, and Ecology, including multiple at the Regional, State, and National level.