Leadership 2023-2024
Student Team
Prisha Shroff, Founder and President
Prisha Shroff, 16, a high school student from Arizona, is a compassionate changemaker. Prisha loves to invent: her passion is to create solutions to real world problems by leveraging STEM knowledge. Her notable inventions include GlucoseAssist; an AI-based wildfire prevention, detection and suppression system; a self-cleaning solar panel; AquaSaver, an Arduino-based water leak detection/overflow device; and a solar-powered drone.
Prisha is driven by a desire to offer the same opportunities she gets to others. She has led multiple STEM and coding workshops for underserved students in rural areas. She continues to influence women and girls in STEAM as a flight crew member for the Million Girls Moonshot program, an International Leadership Council Chief Science Officer, and She has also spoken at the United Nations, encouraging youth to be agents of change and take action toward sustainability goals.
She has won numerous awards at national and state level including Broadcom Masters Winner being the 1st girl in AZ to get the award and thousands of dollars in scholarship.
Akari Iwamoto, Vice President
Akari Iwamoto, 17, a senior at Hamilton High School is a creative innovator and musician. She is planning on majoring in molecular biology in college and ultimately pursuing a career as a pediatrician. During the summer of 2023, she participated in the Biosense Summer Labs that were conducted at Arizona State University, and she explored the concept of molecular dynamics in the Hayes Lab. At Hamilton High School, she has been serving as the vice president and volunteer coordinator of the Red Cross Club since July 2022. In addition, she has played flute for seven years and was selected as one of the flutes to play with distinguished soloist Aralee Dorough in the 2023 National Flute Convention Gala Concert.
Shishir Dommeti, Business Manager
Shishir Dommeti, a 15-year-old junior at Hamilton High School is a tech enthusiast, skilled programmer, and tennis player. As a creative thinker, Shishir is always looking for new ways to approach existing problems with his skills in programming, CADing, and engineering. At school, he is an active member of Robotics, Academic Decathlon, and Chess Club. Shishir is also the co-founder and vice president of Wet Robotics / Ocean Sustainability, where he participates in the Mate ROV competition.
Dhruv Hassani, Secretary
Dhruv Hassani is a 16-year-old junior at Hamilton High School. In his free time, you can find Dhruv competing on the tennis court, strumming the guitar, or gliding through the water as an avid swimmer. Additionally, Dhruv's background in building, 3D design, and programming, gained through involvement in the FRC (FIRST Robotics Competition), allows him to approach challenges with a creative mindset, always striving to make a positive impact. Further, Dhruv is a member of Speech/Debate and Digital Photography Club. Dhruv is also the co-founder and President of Wet Robotics/Ocean Sustainability, where he participates in the Mate ROV competition for underwater robotics.
ASU Luminosity Lab Team
Mark Naufel, Executive Director Luminosity Lab
Mark Naufel leads an interdisciplinary lab of exceptional students called The Luminosity Lab within ASU’s Knowledge Enterprise. The Luminosity Lab is an applied research and development lab that aims to positively impact society through the use of emerging technologies. Previously, Naufel drove strategy and data initiatives for companies both locally and in Silicon Valley - working at companies such as Cisco Systems, The Wolff Company and the Arizona Chamber of Commerce. He also served as the political director for one of Arizona’s political parties, leading political and data strategy for the 2014 statewide races, and was nominated by Arizona Capitol times as one of Arizona’s rising political stars.
Mary Hintze, Program Manager Luminosity Lab
My name is Mary Hintze. I received my Mechanical Engineering degree from ASU along with a minor in Human Systems Engineering. In industry my work involved taking a project all the way from conception through to production. Specifically related to mechanical housing design for electronic components in a variety of industries (military, space, medical, telecom, etc). Now, I work at the Luminosity Lab within ASU, working alongside students to rapidly prototype creative solutions for real world problems!
Sponsor
Debbie Nipar, Teacher and Sponsor
Debbie Nipar has been an educator for 32 years and has spent the last 26 years teaching at Hamilton High School in the Chandler Unified School District (CUSD). Prior to that, she spent five years teaching junior high science classes at Casa Grande Junior High School in the Casa Grande Elementary School District and Willis Junior High in CUSD. Debbie currently teaches 10-12th-grade AP Chemistry, Honors Science Research, and AP Research.
Debbie brought chemistry modeling to Hamilton and is a firm believer in the modeling curriculum. Her students are exposed to labs and demonstrations that allow them to make sense of the microscopic world by observing and measuring macroscopic data. In her classroom, students whiteboard and discuss ideas with Debbie acting as facilitator. Students not only understand chemistry better, but are able to articulate and defend experiments and problem-solving strategies.
Debbie's students from her Honors Science Research class participate in the Intel Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) since 2004. Because of this success, she has been asked to present information about her program at two ISEF Southwest Educator Academies.
Debbie earned a B.A. in education from Arizona State University and a M.Ed. from Northern Arizona University. She is certified in biology, chemistry, and general science.