Angelina Tsuboi.Photo: Leona Tsuboi
For Angelina Tsuboi, computer science is nothing short of a superpower — and with great power comes great responsibility.
“I build apps to solve problems in my community,” the Los Angeles-based 11th grader, who is fluent in 13 programming languages, tells PEOPLE.
Tsuboi has created an app to connect teachers and students for tutoring, and even one for the Apple Watch that guides users through CPR using vibrations to regulate compression and breathing cadence. She’s also co-created a device that monitors air pollution.
As a winner ofApple’s 2022 Swift Student Challenge, Tsuboi has spent time with CEO Tim Cook. “I admire how his goals align with his values,” she says.
Angelina Tsuboi and Tim Cook.Courtesy Angelina Tsuboi
As have hers. Since Tsuboi was 7, she’s been trying to solve problems she sees through computer coding and building apps. Now PEOPLE is sharing her incredible story in honor of International Day of the Girl on Tuesday.
“I feel like I have a really good purpose and meaning in my life,” says Tsuboi, “and it’s a really good motivating force for good.”
For more on Girls Changing the World, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands now, or subscribehere.
An amateur pilot-in-training for the last two years, Tsuboi just launched an app called Pilot Fast Track to connect aspiring aviators with resources to pay for flight training. Recently, Tsuboi took her first solo flight, in a two-seater Sport Cruiser.
“I was always in awe of things that flew since I was very little — machines, airplanes, rockets,” she says.
Tsuboi’s future aspirations are just as lofty: to use technology and engineering, combined with her creative flair, to continue finding “pragmatic” solutions to life’s challenges.
“It’s a single, coherent, philosophical principle that has guided all the projects I’ve pursued,” she says.
source: people.com
