DiscoverSTEM

Impact

DiscoverSTEM

Impact

Dr. Hashima Hasan
(Program Scientist @ NASA)
Ph.D. (Nuclear Physics – Oxford University)
James Webb Telescope

“The program brings to life the true scientific process. Rather than focusing on book-centric activities, the students are encouraged to be inquisitive about real-life situations and seek answers through research and experimentation…”

“…The down-to-earth approach of DiscoverSTEM takes the fear out of scientific learning. DiscoverSTEM encourages students to make their own discoveries. By working together in groups, they feed off each other’s energies as each has his or her own “Eureka” moment...”

“…What started as a small mentoring program in 2016 has now evolved to one where students have won NASA innovation awards, patented their innovations, and are now proceeding towards commercialization….”

Dr. Charles A. Rodenberger
(NASA Scientist)
-Designer of the Apollo Spacecraft
-Inventor of Hypervelocity Gun
-Researcher for NASA related to
meteoroid protection of spacecraft

“As a scientist and one of the designers of the NASA Apollo spacecraft, I’ve seen intensive brain-storming and innovation activities in our team when we were designing systems to land a man on the moon and safely bring them back! The next time I saw such an activity is at DiscoverSTEM… This is the best STEM & Innovation program I’ve ever seen.”

Jim Christensen
Director of Education

NASA Kennedy Space Center Visitor’s Complex

"One thing which is fascinating is 'How kids can be trained to be innovative'? ... Mirza has come up with a step-by-step kind of program and approach to help people create innovations, and I just love that… This program absolutely fascinates me!"

Shreeya Dasikan
(DIP 2018-19)
Greenhill School, Dallas

"My favorite part about the program was when all of us would sit in the meeting room and begin to brainstorm ideas…I deeply enjoyed those moments when we were gathered together, throwing out crazy ideas that only seemed crazy until we made them a reality”

Dr. Medhat Askar
(Transplant Immunologist)

“As an ex-member of the admission committee of the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine for many years, I think one of the most valuable qualities many top-tier medical schools are looking for is Innovations and patents on the applicant’s CV. DiscoverSTEM programs mentors a student to earn these valuable additions to their profile”

Dr. Baron Hammon,
Father of Mollie Hammon (DIP2018-19) Stanford University – B.S. Harvard Medical School – Cardiac Physiology (Author of 98 research and scholarly papers)

"This program stands on the shoulder of other master innovators - Edison, Stanley Sarnoff, Ford, and others"

R. Dawlah, Mother of Reya Dawlah
(DIP2019-20), Sherman-TX, USA

“Being a part of this program has been an amazing experience. I learned so much about innovation and patents. I have opened up my way of thinking, and now I am constantly looking around me and thinking of ways to innovate.”

Jeanette Goodrich
Pilot – United States Air Force
Mother of Kayla Goodrich (DIP2019-20)

“DiscoverSTEM Innovation Programs truly prepare kids to become the next generation of innovators. I love how they are challenged to think and explore; to identify and solve everyday problems; I love how much I've seen my daughter grow.”

Kayla Goodrich
DIP2019-20), Dallas-TX-USA

"My time at DiscoverSTEM Innovation Program has been awesome! It has given me a constructive environment to learn how to think like an innovator and build on other people's ideas. I also love how it challenges me to think outside of the box and innovate. With these skills, my future has no limit!”

Student Marium Khan

Marium Khan
DIP2015-16), Irving-TX-USA

“DiscoverSTEM Innovation Program has helped in countless ways. Not only did it help me secure a full-ride to Duke University, the process of going to NASA, presenting our innovation, and being ranked first against over 50 teams from all over the world was a memorable experience.

With the mentorship I received through the program, I developed and strengthened various aspects of my personality. I learned what it was like to be an innovator, researcher, entrepreneur, and public speaker.

The invaluable skills I gained have tremendously aided my college career as I continue to explore the realms of biological research and innovation further at one of the best academic institutions.”

Candice Coleman
Mother of Carcyn Coleman
DIP 2019-20), Dallas-TX-USA

“DiscoverSTEM Innovation Program was an awesome experience for Carcyn. Since Carcyn participated in DiscoverSTEM, I have seen her flourish as a student, leader, and innovator. She has gained immense confidence, critical thinking skills, and the importance of teamwork which has given her leadership qualities to excel.


From this experience, Carcyn was accepted to two summer programs with fellowships at John Hopkins University and Brown University. Carcyn was also extended the opportunity to attend Brown University online during the school year. Carcyn earned an ‘A’ in Physics, among her other classes, and has been invited to enroll in Honors Chemistry at The Greenhill School.

The mentorship component of the DiscoverSTEM program is invaluable, and the entire program was a remarkable experience for my family.”

Mamta Prasad
Mother of Anika Prasad
(DIP2019-20), Frisco-TX, USA
“I liked how the program is structured and geared towards developing the innovation spirit in kids. The brainstorming sessions helped my kids in learning how to speak up and work with a team. They also learned that turning on ideas into a real product to address a problem is a process.”
Surbhi Agrawal,
Mother of Isha Agrawal
(DIP2019-20/ILM2020-24), Plano-TX, USA
“This program gave exposure to children to observe problems and come up with innovative solutions. Students learned to work together in groups and take responsibility to develop better ideas.”
Roderick Rischer
Father of Ashton Richer
Greenhill School, Dallas-TX (DIP2018-19), Dallas-TX-USA

“I liked that the DiscoverSTEM Innovation Program fostered critical, analytical, and innovative thinking. I liked the fact that a world-class innovator taught Ashton and that he could be around other talented young children who are curious learners and are taught to think outside of the box. I liked the left-right brain activity.”

Alejandra Salinas
Father of Rafael Zapiain
(DIP2018-19), Dallas-TX-USA
We liked that this program gives our children an opportunity to understand how work teams interact in the real world. We also liked that the program instills a feeling of responsibility by letting each participant work on their own assigned tasks and present their results to the whole team later on.

An essential part of this experience is developing entrepreneurial skills and the ability to solve problems by thinking outside the box. Additional to these observations, we sincerely appreciate Mr. Faizan’s professionalism and courtesy towards the parents.
Dr. S. Iqbal
Father of Shayaan and Zaina Iqbal
(DIP2019-20), Dallas-TX, USA

“I liked the most about the program is my child got tuned into thinking about the problems around them. They learned to think and brainstorm about how to solve them and came up with solutions.

He worked collaboratively with the team and mentors. He saw the deficiencies in their project and worked towards solving them. The kids worked independently with their team without spoon-feeding from parents.”

S. Syed, Mother of Tarik Syed
Greenhill School, Dallas-TX
(DIP2019-20/ILM2020-24), Plano-TX, USA
“I have never seen my son as enthusiastic about learning anything. He enjoys telling us all about the products they designed. I also think the team collaboration was very beneficial. He thinks more deeply about all details. It has been a great experience for him”.
Suresh Rangan
Father of Manish Rangan
(DIP2019-20/DEP2020-22), Frisco-TX-USA.

“First of all, thanks to Mr. Faizan and the entire DiscoverSTEM team for starting this program in North Texas. While most of the current learning is geared towards GPA, AP, and school curriculum, this came out so different as an opportunity to engage with other kids of different ages and grades, and brainstorm for problem-solving to make them a thinker and a doer.

Manish really enjoyed it and was looking forward to this class every week. To keep it simple, what I liked about the program is bringing kids together and having them brainstorm to develop innovation to solve a problem systematically”.

Shayan Taban
(DIP2019-20),
Kuala Lumpur-Malaysia

“I really liked how I learned to think outside-of-the-box and innovate things. Also, I enjoyed everybody coming together and seeing their different views and opinions about the same idea”.

Dr. Sreemdevi Nayaranan
Mother of Soorya Narayanan
(DIP2019-20/ILM2020-24)

“The program has benefitted Soorya in expressing herself more. She can tune into her true self and be on a positive growth path. It has helped her reasoning, analytical, and brainstorming skills. She is more solution-focused now.”

Marsha DeCay
Mother of Kenny Joel DeCay Jr.
(DIP2019-20), Arlington-TX, USA
“The program fostered a dichotomy shift in the way my son views day-to-day objects, problems, inconveniences, situations. He now views them from the perspective of problem solving and solution.”
Hiba Sheikh
(DIP2019-20),
Southlake-TX-USA
‘In this program, I liked how the mentors took part in meetings along with my team. Also, having this opportunity here to learn innovation is something truly extraordinary. Going through the innovation process, brainstorming, STAR methodology, and making an innovation is something unique to us.

This program really helped me in my leadership skills and thinking process. Overall, I think I would do this course again because it is really fun to collaborate with different people and ideas. This program changed my thought process, which enhanced my grades.”
Zayan Tabish
(DIP2019-20),
Sydney-Australia
“The Program was very engaging, and I learned many new things as well as the process of innovation. I looked towards the innovation sessions every week and enjoyed learning how to think like an innovator and work with a global team to solve a real-world problem”.
Abhay Sharma
Father of Kaushiki &
Abhyudaya (DIP2019-20), Bristol-UK,

“The overall approach of the DiscoverSTEM Innovation Program is very good. It helps children observe the surroundings with certain analytical reasoning and evaluate it from their perspective to measure - ‘Is this the right way to do or is there any other simple way or mechanism that can be proposed or invented?’.


This approach surfaces the curiosity of the young mind and also drives them to propose a solution. Since children are still not exposed to high-end Physics or mathematics, solutions proposed by them are very simple and user-friendly, which is the ultimate objective of any innovation. I am convinced and fully support this program”.

Abdurraheem Sheikh
(DIP2016-17/DIP2019-20),
Irving TX-USA

“The thing that I liked the most about this program was that it was very interactive, and it forced all the students to collaborate and work together as a solid team. It helped us in sharing our ideas which led to better innovation. I also liked how in this program we tried to fix the problems that really affect many people and that now we have a shot of implementing in the real world.”

Dr. Shams Sheikh
Father of Hiba Sheikh & Humza Sheikh
(DIP2019-20)

“I appreciated the process of learning innovations targeted for the kids. From seeing the results presented at the prior DiscoverSTEM demonstration, I think this is a very captivating course. I liked the approach to coming up with a patent and understanding why some ideas could not be patentable. For Hiba, this was a great experience to be in a small group and separately come up with something outside of school.”

Saket Kumar
Saket Kumar
Father of Meher Singh (DIP2019-
20/ILM2020-24), Southlake-TX-USA

“We really liked the way kids started to approach problems after attending this program. They have started to look for sources /scope for innovation in their day-to-day lives. Their curiosity about everything around them has gone up.”

Shreya Nair
(DIP2019-20),
Frisco-TX-USA
“Being a part of this program has been an amazing experience. I learned so much about innovation and patents. I have opened up my way of thinking, and now I am constantly looking around me and thinking of ways to innovate.”

Hisham Ahmad - CMO

I am a 14-year-old freshman attending Brighter Horizons Academy in Garland, Texas. I have extensive experience with marketing, as I have been a part of various companies and mentorships. I graduated from the DiscoverStem program, allowing new doors to open up for me, and change the way I see things. The DiscoverStem program has also given me more experience with concepts such as patents, invention, and innovation, as well as inspiration to use these skills to help the world around us.

DiscoverSTEM founders Mirza Rizwan and Mirza Faizan have made history by becoming the first Indian to win the coveted George Washington Honor Medal from the Freedoms Foundation – USA.

Started in 1949 by former US President Dwight D. Eisenhower, Freedoms Foundation honors exceptional contributions of Americans towards communities in the USA. Generally reserved for the US citizens, the awarding organization made an exception to recognize the stellar research work and its impact of India’s Mr. Rizwan in designing and implementing a unique STEM & Innovation program for American children, thereby revolutionizing the education system in the USA.

Few of the other notable non-US citizens who have received George Washington Honor Medal include Ms. Margaret Thatcher (Former Prime Minister of United Kingdom), Lech Walesa (Former President of Poland and Noble Prize winner) and world-renowned Russian writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. As the latest recipients of this prestigious honor, Mirza brothers join historically acclaimed group of citizens whose work and dedication advance the American ideals, the award letter says.

Some of the distinguished US citizens who have received this award for their stellar contributions in their field are Walt Disney, Astronauts Sally Ride and John Glenn, Capt. Sully Sullenberger, Athletes like Arthur Ashe, George Foreman and Tiger Woods and famous US educator Jaime Escalante.