Stephanie Niu

Current School or University: Stanford University
Company if employed: Novelis
Favorite Movie: The Shawshank Redemption
Favorite Book: The Dog Stars
Favorite Quote: “I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.” –Albert Einstein
My Role Model: Tracy Chou, a female software engineer at Pinterest who “is breaking the Silicon Ceiling”.
My TAG-Ed experience:  I interned in July of 2014 with Novelis, a global aluminum company. I worked as part of the Innovation Strategy team to improve and document a project management system in Excel. I also created an internal web page and custom document library. During my internship, I learned not only about project management theory and software development but also about the aluminum industry and workplace etiquette.
What I’m doing now: I’m working at Novelis again this summer to tackle an even larger database project.
Future plans: I will attend Stanford University in the fall as a computer science major. Before my TAG-Ed internship, I probably would not have chosen computer science as my major. However, working on a project for a global company and designing my own functionalities within my internship helped me realize that software development is actually quite a creative and inventive process, and I’m excited to pursue computer science in college and beyond.
Work/Volunteer experiences shaped by my internship: My internship has helped me cultivate a relationship with Novelis that has only strengthened over the past year. This July, with Novelis’ support, I am going to Brazil with my robotics team to lead a free week-long STEM camp for underprivileged students in the city of Pinda. Sharing STEM education with younger students has always been one of my passions, and I’m excited that Novelis has given me the opportunity to do it in a place like Brazil. (You can read about and support this initiative at gofundme.com/pinda)