For DonorsFor Applicants
user profile avatar

Mariana Cruz-Gonzalez

1,265

Bold Points

1x

Finalist

1x

Winner

Bio

Hello everyone, some things one may want to know about me include that I am a first generation college student and that I have been in three high schools (due to moving before the pandemic). During this time I have also been part of three robotics teams from the organization FIRST(For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) TEXplosion (FRC), Rouse Raider Robotics (FRC), and Techno Inferno (FTC). I started taking dual credit courses at Austin Community College during my sophomore year (Manor High School). And I continued my junior and senior years at Manor New Tech High School. I am currently at ACC working on an Associates in Creative Writing and General Engineering. I have great hopes in transferring into a Mechatronics, Robotics, or Mechanical Engineering Bachelor's program in Texas. Many people have told me that what I am studying is entirely on two different ends of the spectrum, but I like to think about it like this. Engineering and Writing are about creation, inventing something that has been, or hasn't been before. And I am just a person who creates things in different mediums. So one day I hope to be a part-time author and a great engineer who dabbles in many things (like robotics, medical engineering and artificial islands{civil engineering}, which are my engineering topics of interest at the moment). As of May, 2024 I am officially UTSA (University of Texas of San Antonio) bound in the mechanical engineering degree program.

Education

Austin Community College District

Associate's degree program
2020 - 2022
  • Majors:
    • Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities
    • Engineering, General
  • GPA:
    3.1

Manor New Technology High School

High School
2020 - 2022
  • GPA:
    3.8

Miscellaneous

  • Desired degree level:

    Bachelor's degree program

  • Graduate schools of interest:

  • Transfer schools of interest:

  • Majors of interest:

    • Architectural Engineering
    • Mechatronics, Robotics, and Automation Engineering
    • Mechanical Engineering
  • Not planning to go to medical school
  • Test scores:

    • 1080
      SAT

    Career

    • Dream career field:

      Mechanical or Industrial Engineering

    • Dream career goals:

      Company Founder

    • Substituting

      Manor ISD
      2024 – Present10 months
    • AVID Tutoring

      Manor ISD
      2024 – Present10 months
    • High School Summer Teaching Assistant

      Goodwill - Robo Cars Summer Camp
      2021 – 2021

    Public services

    • Volunteering

      Manor New Tech Key Club — member
      2020 – 2022

    Future Interests

    Advocacy

    Politics

    Volunteering

    Entrepreneurship

    Joanne Pransky Celebration of Women in Robotics
    Winner
    For their final engineering project the senior students of Elwood University where instructed to present a robotic idea for the benefit of society. Professor Levoy made a huge emphasis on past engineers who attempted to improve the world, only to fail with a legacy of death. “When it comes to the biggest engineering catastrophes, it usually includes the fact that the current laws of the time allowed for negligence and carelessness. Take for instance the disastrous events of 3-Mile Island Nuclear Meltdown, the Tacoma Narrows Bridge Collapse, and the Space Shuttle Challenger Failure. The laws of safety and ethics is one of the key points in your project. If you cannot predict the flaws and greed of humanity perhaps you would feel more at home with a business degree”. Sam had one more course, just one more course to graduation. All she needed to do was complete this project. So what robotic field should she choose? When people think of robots they tend to think of cyborgs, servants, brooms, drones, war drones, war-anything really. And with the advancements of AI more of the unthinkable could be a great starting point. That’s when Sam started thinking of her little freshman self. “I want to work on artificial islands, artificial wombs, rescue technology and general robots.” As a freshman she was interested in a variety of different fields, and now of which she realized would probably not get to all during her lifetime. So after much debate she chose the combination of a medical robot. “Let’s start with a simple scenario, imagine a world where our Robotic helpers recorded our most vulnerable moments, in regards to healthcare and public servitude. Cameras are needed for Robots to interact with the human world. Where does that data end up? Who has access to those archived videos? What could they use that for? It’s a sad reality to think about, but people are already invading people’s privacy with regular cameras. So what we need to start with is Laws in regards to Camera/Surveillance ethics. This includes video, voice, and human imitation. Especially when combining a physical body with pre-conditioned actions.” Sam had been talking over her presentation showcasing over twenty different people, and in common their crimes of artificially created pornography, illegal recordings, and such. “To make a robotic healthcare worker, they must also follow HIPAA and for them that involves image and voice recordings.” Switching to a new slide Sam presented hospital safety regulations. “Another set of Laws we should be thinking about in terms of Robotics is regarding safety. To operators, consumers, and to the living and non-living entities.” On the slide was a picture of a bombed hospital and an armed man in a hospital. “When faced with an active or inactive threat, the base programming of a robot should be to save human lives. But if we deal with human who intends to kill others, what would the program choose?” “Kill humans (values x,y) Do not kill humans (if values (<x,y))” “What consensus should we reach for robots in these scenarios?” After the stressful week, on the final day of lecture Professor Levoy had one last point of wisdom for his students. “Great work on your projects everyone, I do hope you can reach a position in transforming your ideas into reality. As a general consensus it is up to the future engineers of the world to shape and build it. I hope you all find the greatest success!