I grew up in Vietnam. Every summer I go back and teach the way I learned best, hands-on: robots built from recycled Arduino parts in Da Nang, solar-powered cars and clean water in Ben Tre. Two schools so far, and a curriculum that stays after I leave.
At a high school for orphaned students, I taught a 30+ hour A1–B1 English curriculum and mentored 15+ students building autonomous vehicles: Arduino Uno, ultrasonic and infrared sensors, H-bridge motor drivers, all recycled from my neighborhood and school.
That course became the seed of Team Vietnam's FIRST Robotics program at Hope School. I'm partnering with their faculty to grow it to 50+ students this coming summer.
Through Fresh Hydro, a clean-water startup organized by the Institute for Sustainable Development and Digital Economy, I raised over $1,000 and supported construction of a reverse-osmosis filtration system that now supplies the school's drinking water.
On-site, I co-taught a solar-panel-powered RC car and walked 60+ students through basic water-filtration practice, while we handed out scholarships to 20+ underprivileged students.
"Seeing my sustainability-focused solutions to real-world engineering problems in underprivileged communities is what keeps me building community-centered engineering, every summer, back home."