By Kit Humbarger
Staff Writer
Costa senior Dylan Iskandar was recently awarded the Edison Scholarship, a $50,000 scholarship given to promising students looking to pursue a career in the STEM field. Supported by Edison International, this scholarship is highly competitive, with only 30 students receiving the award each year.
The scholarship application process was very intense, with several essays and a video submission required. The application also asked for a letter of recommendation, which counselor Brittney Oystrick, who has known Iskandar since he was a freshman at Costa, wrote for Iskandar’s application.
“He’s a really exceptional student, and has excelled in his area of interest, but he’s also a good person,” said Oystrick. “He has really good character and always goes the extra mile to try to help his friends.”
As a young child, Iskandar loved working on scientific projects, from popular computer games to fun and useful inventions. He strived to create meaningful projects that helped the people in his community. Motivated by his curiosity, he used science as a way to connect with the world.
“Ever since I was young, I’ve always been interested in tinkering and understanding the world around me, whether it was creating robots with Legos and Mindstorm Robotics, or building a recyclable plastic surfboard out of soda bottles,” Iskandar said. “Through these experiences, I discovered the power and potential of computer science to create solutions for various real-world problems.”
Iskandar’s passion for computer science first sparked in middle school, when he was able to combine his love of inventing with coding. He soon started researching different aspects of coding and was hooked. According to Iskandar, he quickly saw computer science as a tool for helping with different problems and needs.
“I first [started] block-coding through the Scratch platform and then began taking computer science courses at Mira Costa and El Camino,” said Iskandar. “I realized how much I enjoyed learning new programming languages and frameworks. Computer science became more than just a hobby or a subject for me; it became a passion.”
Dedicated to using computer science as a way to benefit the community, Iskandar has completed several passion projects over his high school career. One of his most recent ones, an app called GroceryBuddies, received the first place award in the Congressional App Challenge for its ingenious purpose and design.
“[GroceryBuddies] is an iOS app my brother and I created during the pandemic. [It] assists at-risk individuals by obtaining groceries and running errands while promoting local, family-owned stores,” said Iskandar. “Our app serves as a testament to how code can be applied to real-world issues and make a tangible difference in people’s lives.”
An avid pianist, Iskandar combined his musical talents with coding principles to create his program “dynamicGrammars.” This web tool allows aspiring musicians to write and create original songs with the help of computer algorithms.
“As a pianist and composer, writing original music is a challenging process. After watching Google DeepMind’s documentary on the board game Go, I became fascinated by how machines could replicate complex human-like processes through mathematical algorithms,” said Iskandar. “This drew me to study the intersection of cognition, creativity, and machine learning. Ultimately, I hope to develop interactive applications that revolutionize how people learn and interact with music and code.”
A variety of people have influenced and supported Iskandar from the beginning. Family, friends, and teachers have all contributed to his academic success. According to Iskandar, this support through his journey is greatly appreciated and cherished.
“My biggest inspiration is my AP Statistics teacher, Mr. Emhof,” Iskandar said. “He taught me not only the fundamentals of statistics, but also how to apply them to real-world problems and scenarios. He showed me what a great mentor can do for a student’s growth and is a role model for me and many other students.”
As of right now, Iskandar has multiple university acceptances, but he’s narrowed down his choices to two: the Wharton School of Business at University of Pennsylvania and Stanford. According to Iskandar, he’s leaning toward Stanford for its prime location in the computer science world.
“I have a strong interest in creating a tech startup, and Stanford is well-known for its entrepreneurial culture and support,” Iskandar said. “[It] also has the best computer science program in the world, and I want to learn from the best professors and peers in this field.”
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