University of Texas at Austin
Sophomore
Chemical Engineering
Davila/Treviño Memorial Scholarships
Britney Ramirez’s story is a testament to the power one has on their family and the whole community. For Britney’s commitment to improving healthcare disparities, being a scholar, leader, and activist, Great Minds in STEM (GMiS) recognized Britney with a 2020 Davila/Treviño Memorial Scholarship during the 2020 GMiS Conference. Britney is currently enrolled at the University of Texas at Austin pursuing her Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering. She is expecting to graduate in 2023.
When an issue as critical as a family member’s health became the center of Britney’s life, she turned it into a career path. Upon her grandmothers’ diabetes diagnosis, Britney’s career interest in a STEM profession began. She saw first-hand how her grandma struggled with the lack of accessible healthcare diagnostics and devices. Her grandmother’s experience made her realize that this is common within low-income communities.
Britney was further inspired by Dr. Contreras’ and Dr. Maynard’s work to improve healthcare accessibility. She intends to pursue a research career focused on medical devices and treatments to help the most vulnerable. Her goal is to become a physician-engineer who serves her patients with innovative treatments and devices inspired by and for her patients. With a noble profession comes great responsibilities and Britney takes this seriously. “If patients can use medical devices and treatments without worrying about the cost of the difficulty, then even the most vulnerable, like elderly, non-English speaker patient population, can use their treatment and devices safely and accurately.” Britney is committed to using engineering as a tool for social justice and improving healthcare disparities amongst underrepresented communities.
“If patients can use medical devices and treatments without worrying about the cost of the difficulty, then even the most vulnerable, like elderly, non-English speaker patient population, can use their treatment and devices safely and accurately.”
Britney has demonstrated STEM excellence not only in her first year at college but also during high school. In high school, Britney contributed to the project held by Young Women in Science and Engineering Investigators where she worked on drone technologies addressing gas detection. She was also part of First Tech Challenge Robotics where her team built competitive robots to problem-solve various challenges.
Not only was Britney working on gaining experiences for her own career goals, she also was giving back to her community. As an ESL tutor at the Dallas Public Library, she taught and mentored children who were learning and practicing English through various science, math, and art activities. On campus, Britney was committed to forming an organization regarding diabetes education. She hopes that it will create a greater awareness of the disease and its impact on various types of population groups.
Britney holds a passion for helping her community. Her volunteerism extended from serving her high school Graduation Equivalency Degree program where she tutored and guided students, who are employed as migrant farmers, to using engineering for social justice to improve healthcare disparities. In appreciation for being a scholar, leader, and activist, GMiS is proud to recognize Britney as a Scholar of the Week.