Meet some Latinos who took part in the White House Science Fair

Several Latinos were among the dozens of students who presented their award winning projects at the White House Science Fair on Tuesday.

“I love this event!” Obama told a group of students and teachers attending the White House Science Fair on Tuesday. “This is one of my favorite things all year long.”

SEE ALSO: Latinos wanted: Push for Hispanics in STEM Fields

The annual science fair featured more than 100 student winners of a broad range of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) competitions from more than 30 states. This year’s fair focused on girls and women who are excelling in STEM and are inspiring the next generation with their work.

Approximately 30 student teams presented their projects at the State Dining Room of the White House on Tuesday. Obama walked around the room and spoke to the students about their projects.

Here are some of the Latinos who presented:

Juan Ramos, 17 (Dallas, TX)

Having moved to the United States from El Salvador two years ago, Juan Ramos barely spoke a word of English. But he quickly caught up and recently launched JJ New World, a company that creates software programs specializing in online games, along with his classmate Amena Jamali. The students’ premier game, dubbed “Better than History,” helps players think critically and view the world through a more informed lens as they navigate alternative endings to true historical events. Both students plan to use the income raised from their business to fund scholarships and poverty reduction programs in India and El Salvador, their families’ countries of origin. They recently won 1^st place at the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) North Texas Regional Business Plan Challenge, and were quarter-finalists in NFTE’s National Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge.

Cassandra Baquero, 13; Caitlin Gonzolez, 12; Janessa Leija, 11 (Los Fresnos, TX)

Together, the three girls — as part of an all-girl team of app-builders from Resaca Middle School in Texas — designed an innovative solution to help one of their visually impaired classmates. The students built “Hello Navi,” an app that gives verbal directions to help users navigate unfamiliar spaces based on measurements of a user’s stride and digital building-blueprints. The service makes use of common digital tools such as a compass and optical Braille readers and can be tailored for use in any building. The girls’ invention made them one of eight teams to win the recent Verizon Innovative App Challenge, and also earned their school a $20,000 grant from the Verizon Foundation.

Deidre Carrillo, 18 (San Antonio, TX)

Deidre Carrillo helped design and build an innovative electric vehicle. She leads and helped found her high school’s Southwest Engineering Team. The group competes annually in Florida’s Emerald Coast Electrathon, a national competition for student-built electric cars. For the first six months of the team’s existence, she was the only female member. As driver of the team’s Dragon 1 vehicle, she helped lead her team to second place finishes in the Electrathon for two years in a row, before grabbing a first place finish in the 2014 competition this year. After graduating from high school this year, she plans to study public relations at Texas A&M University.

Katia Castañeda, 19 (Oakland, CA)

After coming across a visually impaired neighbor of hers walking in the street, Katia Castañeda, decided to harness her tech skills to help people like her neighbor stay safe. She developed an electronic cane that senses what is ahead of it using two sonar sensors and then warns its user about any potential obstacles. Katia is a student at the Lighthouse Community Charter School. Located in Oakland, Calif., the public school serves low-income youth. After displaying her prototype at a Maker Faire, Katia received several offers to help her develop and manufacture the product.

SEE ALSO: Top 7 scholarships for Hispanics interested in STEM careers

New STEM initiatives unveiled at the White House Science Fair

At Tuesday’s White House Science Fair, President Barack Obama also announced new initiatives that aim to inspire boys and girls to excel in STEM. These new initiatives are part of Obama’s “Educate to Innovate” campaign.

“When students excel in math and science, they’re laying the groundwork for helping America compete for the jobs and industries of the future,” Obama said. “That’s why I’m proud to celebrate outstanding students at the White House Science Fair, and to announce new steps my Administration and its partners are taking to help more young people succeed in these critical subjects.”

Among the new initiatives Obama announced Tuesday is a new $35 million Department of Education competition that focuses on STEM teacher preparation. The competition is in response to Obama’s goal to prepare 100,000 STEM teachers over the next decade.

Along with the Department of Education competition, Obama also announced plans to expand the STEM AmeriCorps to provide STEM learning opportunities for about 18,000 low-income students this summer.

Other newly announced initiatives include a national campaign, dubbed Aprender es Triunfar, that aims to close the Latino achievement gap, especially in STEM education. The campaign is led by NBCUniversal’s Hispanic Enterprises and Content.

SEE ALSO: Why STEM education and minority achievement gaps are interlinked