Gia Azcoitia

Gia is from Florida where she also attends Florida International University. She is a double major in electrical engineering and applied mathematics. Her college journey began as an art major but transitioned to STEM during her Sophomore year.  

“Although I did leave art, and I was really into art, I don’t really regret my decision because i’m so passionate about STEM… it’s really exciting to go to family reunions and talk about things that no one understands.”

As a rising senior interested in attending Boston University for graduate school, our PURSuE program was the perfect fit. 

Sculpting Light in Space: Gia worked in Siddharth Ramachandran’s High Dimensional Photonics Lab and mentored by Jeff Demas. She describes her work in the lab as an opportunity to visualize and apply the mathematical principles she normally sees on paper. 

“In math, if you mess up, you pick up a textbook or ask a professor to resolve things. But here, if you mess up, you’re encouraged to step back and reassess your experimental set up and parameters. I think that skill of stepping back and reassessing has been really valuable.”

Learn more about Gia’s REU experience below!