There’s no STEAM without our team!

Interested in joining our team of hero-making heroes? Apply now here!

Julia Wang, Director & Founder

Julia is our fearless leader and our resident fangirl and nerd. Ask her anything Percy Jackson, Marvel Cinematic Universe, biology or chemistry related, and she’ll be sure to very excitedly answer your questions… and give you bonus content… and probably direct you to our website for a hands-on themed project. During the school year, Julia spends her time in New Haven, Connecticut, studying Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology and Education Studies at Yale University. When she’s not evading monsters, fielding S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent recruitment calls, or planning training programs, she enjoys eating popcorn with her suitemates, dancing to throwback pop songs, and reading the Scientific American. However, the highlight of her year is coming home to California and training demigods and Avengers. She is so proud of the influence STEAMachine has already had on the community, and is looking forward to continuing to grow the impact to places across the country and maybe… on other worlds too.

Previous Team Members

josie wang, Creative Director

True to her title, Josie is all things creative. While her sister Julia writes curriculum and camp-plans, Josie is the “yin” to Julia’s “yang”, theming activities and creating the Quest/Mission - the final adventure at the end of camp with an escape-room-like layout. Our campers and cadets use skills they learn throughout the week to solve clues, answers riddles, break ciphers, and fight battles. When she isn’t editing STEAMachine videos, thinking of cool experiment names, or coming up with witty captions for @thesteamachine, Josie loves music. Josie plays keys in the Popular Music Conservatory at OCSA (The Orange County School of the Arts) but also plays guitar, clarinet, and classical piano. She’s also a singer-songwriter and poet! Apollo once told her that she was one of his favorite children, but don’t tell! When she’s not enthralled in her music, Josie can be found teaching calligraphy classes at her business Wonderfully Made. Follow her @theletterbrickroad! While the rest of the world was on lockdown, Josie was really on a deep undercover mission, learning to make the perfect loaf of bread, how to bake/frost layered cakes, and of course — scoping out potential recruits. We call her the jack of all trades, master of ALL! Except for sports… but you can’t be good at everything, right?

Rylie DiLellio, Director of programs team

Rylie, an 11th grader at Beckman High school has been with the STEAMachine for 2 years. Her 7 years of club soccer, 2 years of high school soccer, 10 years of martial arts and black belt definitely give her the upper hand in combat training. Participating as a student in summer STEAM camps since she was in 3rd grade, Rylie has always had an interest in engineering and science projects . Rylie also explores her love for engineering by taking the engineering pathway at Beckman. She already completed Intro to Engineering Design where she learned Autodesk and the Design process and will be taking AP Computer Science this coming year. She really enjoys designing, especially when applied to the STEAMachine experiments. When she is not volunteering, you can find her on a soccer field, watching YouTube, or going for runs to train for her next half marathon.

ETHAN KIRGAN, Director of education TEAM

Ethan is joining us for the first year at STEAMachine due to his fun attitude and his A+ skills in math and science. Ethan is going into his junior year at the Orange County School of the Arts, where he plays guitar in the Popular Music Conservatory. He is currently taking a whole bunch of AP classes like AP Physics and AP Calculus, and even cooler, he has his 1st degree Black Belt in Taekwondo, as well as over 10 years of experience in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. If Ethan were an Avenger, he’d be most like Iron Man, fun and amiable yet inventive as well. In addition to the music he plays at school, Ethan also plays with his band Nuage at local venues, even playing during lunch at school on occasion. He has played guitar for over 7 years and also has a ton of other hobbies like drone building/flying, 3D printing, songwriting, and car tuning. One day, he would like to be an emergency room physician and put his science abilities to work by saving lives. Ethan has volunteered for a bunch of non-profit organizations through the National Honor Society at OCSA and other independent local community centers and organizations. He is so excited to be part of STEAMachine so he can showcase his STEM abilities and scratch his itch for serving the community.

Alina Silva, Programs & Fitness TeamS

Alina is a student at Beckman High School, at least that’s what she tells us. From all her work on the fitness, education, and quest teams at the STEAMachine, it’s hard to believe Alina is even HUMAN! Alina plays both volleyball and basketball for Beckman and will be partaking in advanced choir. She loves to stay active and sing whenever she can. She also loves reading young adult fiction novels, including anything involved with Percy Jackson! In addition, Alina loves listening to music. She has her very own record player and tons of records from various artists. Alina likes to write poems from time to time which remind her of song lyrics. But what’s makes Alina such a valuable asset is that she has physical strength, a creative interest, AND a scientific mind! Happy to be serving her second year with STEAMachine, Alina loves being involved in the experiments and enjoys doing labs at school. She is enrolled in Honors Chemistry for the upcoming school year where she hopes to put her skills to the test! She even has her own microscope and telescope at home! One day, she hopes to either help solve crimes while being a forensic scientist or CSI, test and study samples in hospitals as a pathologist, or work with CRISPR genetic editing technology. Of course, Alina has many other strengths and talents, but that’s classified.

Taylor St.Clair, Programs Team

Taylor’s journey with STEAMachine started year one, day one at Camp Half-Blood Tustin. From camper to counselor, Taylor has loved every minute, and is so excited for this to be her second year as a counselor and team member! When Taylor isn’t on a covert operations assignment, she’s a sophomore at Beckman High School. She is in the Human Body Systems class at school and really enjoys learning about the medical field, which is why she took part in helping STEAMachine camp prepare science activities for the campers. She also helped film the camp’s athletic videos with her 8 years of gymnastics experience and one year in track and field as a jumper. In her free time, you can find her reading a book, watching Netflix, online shopping, or FaceTiming her friends; parkouring through life from one thing to the next!

Allyson Liu, EducatiON Team

Allyson is an 11th grader at Beckman High School (BHS) and has grown up loving science. Listening to her science teacher dad and watching his Bill Nye the science guy videos might have played a part in that. Combining her love of science and teaching, she is a board member of the Juniorology club at BHS where she guides elementary school children through science experiments. As a director of the Medical Certificate Program at BHS, Allyson leads over 450 classmates to learn more about medical professions and how they can get started on their journey. She hopes to work in the medical field when she grows up because her main passion is helping others. Allyson is definitely a daughter of Athena and has inherited her wisdom, organization and leadership skills. Well...maybe not so much the wisdom. When not busy at school, you can probably find her at a boba shop with her friends spending way too much money or going to play soccer. Allyson loves volunteering at church, binge watching Netflix, reading, crafting, and baking. She is so excited to be a part of the Steam Machine and hopes to impact more people!

Aminah Rangwala, Education Team

When it comes to making something cool and creative come out of thin air, Aminah is the Chosen One. As this is her first year of becoming part of the STEAMachine Team, Aminah knows she can put something amazing on the table. Being only a sophomore in high school, Aminah has a passion for the world of science and engineering and took AP Biology last year as a freshman! AP Biology allowed her to continue to expand her mind on the science behind the world as well as learn things she never knew. She is also taking Honors Chemistry this year. Aminah loves working with kids and sharing her knowledge about what she is interested in! Aminah is also a part of the “Medical Certificate Program” which enables her to connect and communicate with doctors about the fascinating life behind their jobs and how they make a difference to people. In her free time, Aminah enjoys to paint landscapes, stiring up something delicious, and laughing at her own jokes! She finds the science of things so cool and hopes to add to a little more pizazz throughout the galaxy.

Saarah rangwala, education team

The force is strong with Saarah. She will teach you much young one. Saarah is a Sophomore at Beckman this year and is in Honors Chemistry as well as the Medical Certificate Program. The Medical Certificate Program allows Saarah to hear from doctors of all kinds as well as learn anatomy through online courses! She has a true passion for all things science and loves to learn! In fact, Saarah even took AP Biology as a Freshman which allowed her to dive deeper and learn about all of the biodiversity in the world. Saarah’s goal for the future is to become a pediatrician so that she can combine her passions of science, medicine, and helping others all in one job. In her free time, she likes to whip up yummy desserts, spending time with family, and watch movies with a big bowl of popcorn. Although this is only Saarah’s first year on the team, she is really to put her science and writing skills to the test.

Erin wang, education team

Erin is a sophomore at Crean High School. As part of the Engineering Cohort at her school, Erin gets to learn more about the different fields of engineering by listening to guest speakers, going on field trips, and taking classes geared towards engineering. This year she is taking Intro to Engineering Design where she is learning about 3D printing and how to use Fusion 360. You could say she’s got the blood of Hephaestus running through her veins! Last year as a freshman Erin took AP Computer Science Principles where she learned how to use some basic HTML, CSS, and Javascript to build a website. She is also taking Honors Chemistry this year and finds it challenging but fun. Erin loves reading fiction, adventure, fantasy, and sci-fi books including all things Percy Jackson. In her free time, you can find her playing tennis, doing photography, laughing with her sisters, or reading.

Mikyala Vu, Programs Team

Although this is her first year with STEAMachine, Mikayla is NOT someone you wanna mess with. Brain to body ratio? Well I suppose she would call that the epitome of an unbalanced equation. As only a sophomore at Beckman High School , Mikayla is in the "Medical Certificate Program”. This allows her to hear and learn from many doctors that specialize in different fields. She aspires to be a doctor and this program is helping her pick what she might be one day. She enjoys doing science experiments, especially the ones from the STEAMachine summer camp! But Mikayla isn’t only brains. She started doing Track & Field for her high school this year and has been in gymnastics since she was a little girl. Mikayla enjoys hanging out with her teammates, soaking in sunshine at the beach, or even just watching movies at home. Particularly the Marvel ones! So happy that Mikayla has joined the STEAMachine family!

Kyle Kim, Fitness Team

At 6 feet tall, Kyle might look intimidating, but don’t let his appearance fool you. He wouldn’t hurt a fly... unless it was provoking him. In which case he would squash it. Kyle is a 2020 graduate of the Orange County School of the Arts, and was in the Production and Design Conservatory. In his free time, Kyle loves to be active, learning to master Tae Kwon Do, rock climbing, surfing, and more. Often with the company of Fitness Leader, Lance. He’s a “Life of the Party” kind of guy, and if Ares, Hermes, Dionysus, and Demeter had a kid, it would be Kyle. Doesn’t sound possible, but hey! The gods can get pretty creative. Kyle puts his abundance of energy and expertise into STEAMachine by being the Fitness Director. The kids can’t get enough of his magnetic personality and Kyle loves being around them, too (not that he would ever admit it). He looks forward to another great year of STEAMachine, even if it’s online. Do you think they’re taking nominations for the God of Distance Learning...?

Lance Evensen, Fitness Team  

Lance, son of Apollo through and through, is having a blast with his second year at STEAMachine. He is ALL IN.  Lance is a junior at the Orange County School of the Arts, where he plays guitar in the Popular Music Conservatory. In addition to the music he plays at school, Lance plays bass in his band French Park. He has played guitar for 10 years, the hard work and effort translating into his physical activities. Lance enjoys rock climbing both outside and in the gym, which is very useful for scaling buildings and trees. I mean, you never know when you might be running from Hydra and the only option is up! This year, Lance contributed his creative mind and physical strength to STEAMachine, supporting both the education and fitness teams. “Stay steamy!”

Jamie Quatch, Programs Team

COMING SOON

Samantha fedewa, Programs and creative Team

COMING SOON

Ryan Okajima, Education Team

COMING SOON