Partnerships
XYLO Academy - Student Leaders in Focus
XYLO Academy’s Student Leaders are inquisitive and motivated high school students inspired by the future of disruptive innovation.
The Student Leaders Group was founded to ensure that all high students are creatively inspired and expertly provided with the knowledge, skills and tools necessary to become active participants in the promising careers of disruptive innovation.
Luca Guiga ’23
Luca is passionate about electrical and software engineering. Currently building a micro-portable viewer for the MORI Project (Mariner Ocean Research Institute). Enjoys tennis, Karate and Environmental projects involving engineering. Looking forward to working together with the student advisory group chartering the future of Disruptive Innovation learning.
Serenity Furbert ’24
Serenity enjoys the challenges and new discoveries in science, technology and the Arts. Active in the advanced MORI Project (Mariner Ocean Research Institute). Looking forward to sharing her insights with the XYLO Academy team.
Alex Simerale ’23
Alex is a student ambassador, involved in the First Tech Challenge and enjoys tennis. Working with the Student Leaders Group (assembled from both coasts) and XYLO Academy, Alex looks forward to being an active part in the research and development planning of disruptive innovation content for high-school students.
Audrey Brlecic ’24
Audrey is involved in SAB, Voices for Justice, Robotics and school theatre. Passionate about science, the Arts and engineering. Excited about the vast fields of disruptive innovations and the many new opportunities to explore in future jobs and career paths.
Sophia Shull ’23
Sophia is passionate about the endless solutions and innovations that can be made within different fields of science, and is particularly interested in Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence. She’s a firm believer that it is crucial for all people to be well informed about how technology is rapidly changing our world. She’s also interested in acting and fashion – she believes the beauty of STEM is that the skills you learn from it will help you in any industry or passion.
Sophia's Video
Watch Sophia’s video about her interest in STEM!
Educational Advisor
Dr. Kathy Griffis
Dr. Kathy Griffis is a seasoned educator with over 20 years experience teaching in the high school classroom, designing middle school and high school science curricula, and developing robotics and rocketry programs for high schools in the Los Angeles area. While acting as the educational consultant for the Center for Embedded Networked Sensing at UCLA, her work was aimed at increasing the number and diversity of students entering the STEM pipeline. Trained as a marine research biologist at UCLA, Dr. Griffis is currently a STEM teacher and is working with students at St. Monica’s Mariner Ocean Research Institute to evaluate AI as a means to determine ex-situ growth rates of corals.
