Portfolio

Makela

Hi. I make things: technology and stories and movement, creating at the highest levels across disciplines.

Robotics Research Debate Writing Dance Entrepreneurship
88+
Countries competed
4.0
GPA
1K+
Students mentored
5
Languages spoken
01

About

📍 California
Languages
English 中文 Español Français 日本語

I'm a polymath innovator who balances technology and art, building and performing. I make create build innovations that are technically sophisticated, artistically resonant, and globally impactful.

I have already written six novels, published apps, co-founded a startup, competed internationally in robotics, performed on Broadway, and incorporated a nonprofit — all while managing a full high school course load plus college-level classes.

An avid reader, I also nurture an unhealthy obsession for Hello Kitty and smash my opponent unnecessarily in ping-pong and badminton.

Read more about me below!

02

Achievements

🤖
World Robotics Olympiad
2x National Champion · International Finals
Two-time U.S. National Champion in the Open Research Senior Division. Represented the United States in Germany (88 countries and 26,000+ teams). Projects include: an automatic Arduino fish-feeder to improve fish farming, a robot & app to navigate and extinguish wildfires, and a drone to protect native animals from wind turbines.
⚙️
VEX Robotics
CA State Tournament Champion · World Finalist
1st place Tournament Champion at the California State Championship. World Division Finalist at the World Championship (53 countries, 20,000+ teams). Recipient of the Robot Excellence, Design, and Innovate Awards at Worlds.
💻
Technology
Congressional Recognition · Hackathon Winner
Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition from Congresswoman Anna Eshoo for a publicly beneficial app. 2nd place at LancerHacks National Open Division. 3rd place at OhloneHacks College Division.
🚀
Entrepreneurship
Pitch Contest 1st Place · International Finalist
1st place at MAP New England Young Tech Entrepreneur Contest. Two-time 3rd place winner at the International Open Division BossBizz Entrepreneur Academy. Created an animated YouTube series to combat misinformation; a 3D video game to make online shopping engaging; and a mobile app connecting individuals to vital health resources.
🏅
Service & Civic Recognition
Presidential Gold Medal · Congressional Silver Medal
Awarded the President's Volunteer Service Award Gold Medal and the Congressional Silver Medal by the United States Congress for sustained community service and youth STEM outreach.
🏛
Debate
CA State 1st Speaker · LD Tournament Champion
7 years of competitive debate in Varsity Lincoln-Douglas and Public-Forum. 1st place Tournament Champion at La Reina International (810 entries, 7 states, 3 countries). 1st Speaker Award at the California State Championship.
✍️
Writing
Scholastic Awards · NCTE First Class Distinction
Multiple Scholastic Art & Writing Gold Keys in poetry, fiction, memoir, and novel-writing. NCTE Promising Young Writers First Class Distinction, selected from 177 nominees across 33 states and 3 countries. Published in Stone Soup, Blue Marble Review, and Writopia.
🩰
Dance
Broadway · Youth America Grand Prix
13 years of training in ballet, jazz, contemporary, lyrical, tap, hip-hop, and acrobatics. Ballet soloist for Carmen, Swan Lake, and The Nutcracker. Competed at YAGP. Performed at the NBA Warriors halftime show (streamed on ESPN), on Broadway, and in Times Square.
👑
Community Impact
Miss Congeniality — Miss Santa Clara Outstanding Teen
Youngest recipient of Miss Congeniality. Social Impact Initiative: "Climbing the STEM Mountain," focused on empowering girls in STEM fields.
03

Technology

Languages & Frameworks
Java Python C# C++ JavaScript HTML / CSS PHP RobotC Arduino Sketch
Tools & Platforms
React Native / Expo Unity 3D Firestore MIT App Inventor WordPress Shotcut Arduino
ML / Research
LSTMs CNNs Transformers Computer Vision Signal Processing Data Science
Featured Projects
Pulse-Fi Research
Contributing to published research under UC Santa Cruz Prof. Katia Obraczka — using WiFi Channel State Information to monitor vital signs in real time. Building ML algorithms (LSTMs, CNNs, transformers) that generalize to unseen participants.
Synthetic Dyes
Studying the potential negative effects of synthetic dyes on the blood-brain barrier using planaria as a model organism. To automate my data collection process, I built a custom program using computer vision in Python, ensuring consistent behavioral and morphological analysis of the planaria.
04

Leadership

Co-Founder & President
High Mobility Foundation
Founded a nonprofit teaching STEM to marginalized youth through engineering workshops, robotics, coding, and debate. Organized workshops reaching 1,000+ students with interactive, hands-on curriculum.
Vice President & Outreach Manager
Robotics Club — 100 Members
Led club operations and outreach. Served as Team Lead, Driver, Lead Builder, Lead Programmer, and Lead Notebook for two consecutive years.
Besties Inc. — CTO
Besties Inc.
Serve as CTO of Besties Inc., a social networking app built with React Native Expo, Firestore, real-time chat, push notifications, and rules-based access control. Designed for scalability and cost efficiency.
Debate Volunteer Coordinator & Judge
Speech & Debate Club — 100 Members
Mentored middle school students in speech and debate. Served as a paid judge at varsity high school tournaments, donating all earnings to nonprofit causes.