Nyx Iskandar

Athlete, Designer, Entrepreneur, Inventor, Student, Technologist

I am a driven, ambitious, and inquisitive teenager passionate about computer science, entrepreneurship, and service-learning. I love to experiment with and try out new things, striving to improve myself every day. Moreover, I do not shy away from responsibilities nor opportunities as I crave challenges and chase goals ardently every step of the way. I believe that with the right mindset and the right people around, anyone can do anything in any way. In terms of computer science, I am most passionate about deep learning, web development, and extended reality. Without a doubt, I am also interested and have experience in cybersecurity, data science, game development, and quantum computing! Currently, I am a Young Member of the New York Academy of Sciences, being a member of The Junior Academy and 1000 Girls, 1000 Futures. Furthermore, I am the Head of Web Development of TEDxNewton, Singapore's leading conference on science and technology. I am also embarking on a research project on Manga Layout Analysis, leveraging Machine Learning and Computer Vision. Additionally, I am developing a personal project called Inspire in which I incorporate web development, augmented reality, and other technologies. By and large, I am truly excited to discover and learn new concepts as well as create novel products! All in all, I hope to stay hungry and foolish, aiming to become a multi-hyphenate.

My passion lies in solving real-world challenges using my skills in computer science and entrepreneurship to create novel products to cater to the needs of society.

Having been a student of what is considered a “neighbourhood” school in Singapore (which is my former school, Damai Secondary School), I have experienced the lack or even absence of information regarding careers, including the educational pathways and skills required to succeed in those careers. Now, I am blessed enough to be enrolled in an “elite” school (which is Raffles Institution), and I see vividly the drastic difference in the knowledge and insight about potential careers one can pursue. This issue clouds all careers, especially white-collar ones, as exposure to these careers are often restricted to only a small group of academically stronger or wealthier students who are entitled to more webinars, career talks, Higher Education resources, and other privileges the majority of students lack. Hence, this is the challenge I have been dying to solve. After reading up on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) outlined by the United Nations out of curiosity, I realise that my goal of bridging the gap in information about careers is related to Target 9.5 of SDG 9, specifically in terms of increasing the number of research and development (R&D) professionals per one million people. This is because with the lack of information being catered to the majority of students, who are as deserving of such information as the privileged few, the labour supply the world has for such high-demand careers is adversely affected, because the majority of students are not even aware of those careers, let alone how to get there. Detractors may argue that careers in R&D or any other high-demand but low-supply careers should be done by the most qualified and intelligent minority, but that does not negate the fact that the opportunity to learn about and potentially try out those careers should be presented to all irrespective of their current situations now. It is imperative that we believe in the growth mindset, that anyone can do anything should they have the willpower and perseverance to try and keep trying. In the words of Haikyuu’s Oikawa Tooru, “talent is something you make bloom, instinct is something you polish”; talent is not an innate ability but something you create out of hard work, and instinct is something you continuously improve as you experience life and learn new things. I believe that everyone has the right to be given the opportunity to develop and be encouraged to do so. Information should not be exclusive to those deemed to be “gifted” at a young age, because life is a race where all the competitors are constantly taking over one another. Nothing is ever static in life, thus the opportunity to grow, and the means to do so, must be provided to all. This is why I am planning to create a start-up which innovates and serves a platform where professionals and students can connect such that an inclusive community built upon knowledge-sharing and the drive to learn can free all of us to achieve our dreams.

Computer Science, Deep Learning, Extended Reality, Leadership, Marketing, Web Development

I am involved in TEDxNewton as the Head of Web Development from October 2021!

A hidden skill of mine would probably be making sound effects of objects and even animals.