Our Purpose

At International Youth STEM and Education Society (IYSES), we believe that youth have a crucial role to play in propelling humanity into the future. By engaging youth with real-time innovations and breakthroughs in STEM, we hope to inspire the next generation of scientists, engineers, innovators, and leaders.

IYSES is a youth-led registered non-for-profit organization based in Canada (Incorporation Number 1667759-2). Since our establishment in 2019, we have been providing a combination of free educational resources, events, and programs to youth, including a STEM current events magazine, webinar series on various topics in STEM, and post-secondary keynote panels.

Who We Are

Our Future

Setting our trajectory: learn more and get involved

IYSES is currently working on reworking and expanding existing programs while partnering with post-secondary educational institutions to deliver meaningful, in-person initiatives for local high school youth to engage with the now of STEM in the heart of research.

Novel planned initiatives include a STEM Case Competition, Research Night Presentations, and potential grants to support high school student involvement in research.

IYSES has established a recognized chapter at the University of Alberta, with more to come.

Jiawei Ryan Zhang

President

Jiawei Ryan Zhang is a 3rd year University of Alberta student en route to finishing a BSc with Specialization in Immunology and Infection. He co-founded IYSES in 2019, and currently serves as its president. In his spare time, he likes to compose music, write poetry, and bake.

Jiaming Richard Zhang

Treasurer

Jiaming Richard Zhang is a grade 11 student at Old Scona Academic, consistently ranked as the top academic high school in Canada. As Treasurer for IYSES, he aims to diversify the organization's income sources. In his spare time, he likes to play clarinet and to cook.

Jiakai Rex Zhang

Vice President Accessibility

Jiakai Rex Zhang is a grade 9 student. As Vice President Information Accessibility for IYSES, he leads a team in ensuring that IYSES resources and events are presented in a youth-friendly manner. In his spare time, he enjoys coding software and reading.

Ellena Jin

Vice President Magazine

Ellena Jin is pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacology at McGill University. As Vice President Magazine and Vice President Translation of IYSE, she is passionate about making science discoveries accessible to the community. When she isn’t busy memorizing drug names, she enjoys painting, reading, cooking and spending time with friends.

Jason Ye

Vice President Infographics

Jason Ye is Vice President Infographics for IYSES. Jason is currently a 3rd year undergraduate student at the University of Toronto doing a specialization in pathobiology. Some of his research interests are in cancer and protein misfolding diseases. In his spare time, he likes to draw and make video games.

Tahmid Chowdhury

Vice President Media

Tahmid Chowdhury is an undergraduate student in his 3rd year of a BSc Honors in Immunology and Infection. His primary research interest lies in the virulence of typhoid fever. In his spare time, he enjoys composing music, playing video games, and playing team sports with friends.

Jeffery Ma

Web Developer

Jeffery Ma is a 3rd year University of Alberta Electrical Engineering student. He joined IYSES in 2024 as a web developer and has since caught several bugs, including a beetle once (don't worry, he releases them). He enjoys cheese.

Abbinash Ranjitkar

Web Developer

Abbinash Ranjitkar is a 3rd year University of Alberta student pursuing a BSc with Specialization in Computing Science. He joined IYSES in 2025 to help build the website. In his spare time, he likes to go for runs, cook, and play video games.