STEM + first twodone

wright-application/essays/stem.tex

@@ -1 +1,31 @@
-% FTC, TEG, GaitGuardian, AIME + Contributing Solutions to AOPS, ACE, Full Server Setup, Hacking?, Science Bowl?, Debate Congress APp, MIDI technology??, 
+% FTC, TEG, GaitGuardian, AIME + Contributing Solutions to AOPS, ACE, Full Server Setup, Hacking?, Science Bowl?, Debate Congress APp, MIDI technology??, 
+
+In the last three years, STEM activities have been the focus of my high school experience, both through and outside of school.
+I have had a strong passion towards STEM activities since middle school, and I believe that these experiences have prepared me
+to fully utilize the research platforms and opportunities provided by AFRL.
+
+\begin{enumerate}
+	\item From 9th to 11th grade, I have been an active member of my community First Tech Challenge (FTC) Robotics team, serving as
+	      Co-Captain and Software Lead. I started in my freshman year from square one, knowing no programming languages or
+	      concepts. Slowly, I picked up Java through the FTC SDK, and I eventually started writing functional code for our robot. As the
+	      season had progressed, I had become a decent programmer, and our team was able to win as a State Finalist alliance team and
+	      Area Innovate Award Winner for a unique fully-automated hang mechanism. In the following two years, I ramped up my
+	      time commitment and progressed my skills. By applying the Calculus knowledge I was learning in the classroom, I was
+	      able to implement a fully custom autonomous pathing system for our robot, using trigonometry, inverse kinematics, and
+	      PID control to achieve precise movement. In addition, I tinkered with computer vision, developing a custom TensorFlow model
+	      for failsafe object detection (with 100\% match success). Our team went on to champion our league, become an Area Finalist
+	      captain, and place in the global top-30 for autonomous performance.
+	\item In my 9th grade, my independent research project for Science Fair qualified as a finalist project for the
+	      International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF). My project started from a very simple idea of utilizing available thermal energy
+	      in a cooking pot to also stir the contents (to save energy for cooking). From here, I learned about the world of
+	      thermoelectric generators (TEGs) and the Seebeck effect. Applying the CAD and simulation concepts I learned from my
+	      Engineering class in school, I designed an aluminum enclosure that used a TEG, a heat sink, and a motor to convert heat
+	      energy into mechanical stirring. I also learned about electrical circuits as I used a voltage and current sensor to effectively 
+          graph my TEG's performance relative to the temperature differential. My final prototype, although simple, was able to win 
+          1st in Engineering Technology at my regional science fair, where I also won a special awards through the US Metric Association and 
+          the US Air Force Certificate of Recognition. At ISEF, I was able to present to domain experts and professors from 
+          around the world, gaining valuable insights and feedback to later improve my prototype and project.
+          \item 
+
+
+\end{enumerate}