Introducing Ángela Elena Olazarán Laureano, the winner of the $100,000 Chegg.org Global Student Prize 2024
Ángela Elena Olazarán Laureano, a 17-year-old Mexican student who developed an AI-powered virtual medical assistant and advocates for girls to pursue STEM careers, has been named the winner of the Chegg.org Global Student Prize 2024.
Each year, this $100,000 award is given to one exceptional student who has made a real impact on learning, the lives of their peers, and society beyond.
She was selected from over 11,000 nominations and applications from 176 countries around the world. Ángela accepted the award in New York during UN General Assembly week.
Ángela's Impact
Ángela is studying Information Technology and Digital Business Engineering at Anáhuac University Veracruz, Xalapa campus. She helped create Ixtlilton, a prize-winning AI-powered virtual medical assistant that can currently diagnose 21 diseases based on a series of questions.
Designed with local medics during COVID-19, Ixtlilton aims to aid people living in remote areas or long distances from a medical center by helping them determine whether they require medical care. In Papantla, where Ángela lives, certain communities are forced to travel one hour to reach their closest medical center. The tool could be especially useful in marginalized communities, which have struggled with doctor shortages. Moreover, once downloaded onto a device such as a mobile phone or computer, Ixtlilton does not require internet access.
With just 56% of Mexico’s rural populations having internet access, this could be hugely beneficial for those who currently face limited connectivity. Papantla’s city hall is currently working to connect Ángela and the Ixtlilton team to local pharmacies and medical centers that may wish to encourage their patients to use the tool.
As a medal winner in both national and international robotics competitions, Ángela is also a leading light of STEM education – not only in her hometown of Papantla de Olarte, Veracruz, but also across Mexico and Latin America. In November 2021, her team entered the National Robotics Competition in the “Home Care Challenge” category, in which they won first place at the state and national levels.
She won the STEM Talent Award: National Student Prize Mexico 2022, organized by Movimiento STEM+. In 2023, international success came to Ángela with two silver medals in the RoboRAVE World Championship international robotics competition, competing against countries such as China, Australia, and Canada.
Ángela has spoken at the Mexican Senate of the Republic about the importance of including STEM careers in the Mexican curriculum, alongside developing socio-emotional skills in students. Earlier this year, she and her Nakú Robotics team participated virtually in a conference on AI and Space Education that was held at NASA’s Houston Space Center.
Ángela plans to use the $100,000 Chegg.org Global Student Prize funds to create and install a STEM classroom in Veracruz.
The Global Student Prize
Chegg.org partnered with the Varkey Foundation to launch the Global Student Prize in 2021, a sister award to its $1 million Global Teacher Prize. It was established to create a powerful platform that shines a light on the efforts of extraordinary students everywhere who, together, are reshaping our world for the better. The prize is open to all students who are at least 16 years old and enrolled in an academic institution or training and skills program. Part-time students as well as students enrolled in online courses are also eligible for the prize.
Students applying for the Chegg.org Global Student Prize were assessed on their academic achievement, impact on their peers, how they make a difference in their community and beyond, how they overcome the odds to achieve, how they demonstrate creativity and innovation, and how they operate as global citizens. The winner was selected from the top 10 finalists by the Global Student Prize Academy, made up of prominent individuals.
Last year’s winner was South Sudanese refugee Nhial Deng, who empowered refugees in the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya through peacebuilding, education, and entrepreneurship programs. The winner in 2022 was Ukrainian teenager Igor Klymenko, a student from Kyiv, Ukraine, who developed a mine-detecting drone. The first winner in 2021 was Jeremiah Thoronka, a student from Sierra Leone, who launched a start-up that transforms vibrations from vehicles and pedestrian footfall on roads into an electric current.
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