Instructors 2023

Hi! My name is Ziana Merchant. Hackathons are a great way for coders of all levels to advance their skills, which is why I'm so excited to teach people how to start hackathons of their own! I love making clothing and listening to music of all genres. Doing my nails and henna is something you will often catch me doing late at night (even though neither ever turn out very well). And you will always see a Red Bull with me during these late-night sessions. I love meeting new people, and I'm so excited to meet every one of you!

Hi! My name is Alina and I am a rising senior at Gunn High School. I believe technology is an increasingly important tool and it is important for more girls to be involved. There are two things I love more than coding: Boba and my cat. I have been an avid boba lover since middle school especially for thai milk tea, and I have a huge cat named Bihli, which translates to "cat" in Urdu. Besides drinking boba I enjoy playing basketball and knitting.

I'm Deniz, and I''m currently computational researcher at the Aspiring Scholars Directed Research Program. I have contributed to various research projects involving machine learning and data analysis in Python. Having taken AP CSA, I'm also proficient in Java. in my freetime, I like to play piano and rock climb!

Kritika has achieved a global rank of 6 in the school category at ICPC AlgoQueen '23, earning a Silver Medal. She qualified through the Zonal Computing Olympiad (ZCO) for the Indian National Olympiad in Informatics (INOI), which displays her problem-solving abilities and computational thinking. She attained the highest score in her grade in computer science during the previous academic year, receiving recognition for her achievements with the Techno Kid Award for Computers and the Whiz Kid Award for Mathematics from her school.

Fun fact - I like listening to music and eating chocolates!

Hi! My name is Bella and I am a rising junior at Payton College Prep in Chicago, Illinois. I am super interested in behavioral economics and debate, and am excited to work with you this summer! Additionally, I am a competitive dancer, and in my free time, I love binging a good TV show and spending time with my friends and family. I am confident this is going to be a great summer!