Alanna Hayes

Alanna entered the Stripe Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition in 2023 with a project that applied optimal-path algorithms to chip design, mapping the most efficient way to connect wiring points. The project won the Senior Individual Category in Chemical, Physical & Mathematical Sciences and set her firmly on the path to engineering.

Raised in a single-parent family in Clare, Alanna planned to stay local for university. But through Stripe YSTE and the youth accelerator Patch, she discovered scholarship opportunities that took her to Trinity, where she now studies mechanical and manufacturing engineering.

She is now a key member of the Formula Trinity team, building a single-seater race car to race at Silverstone, and she volunteers with Khthon, an NGO that uses AI and satellite data to identify mass grave sites.

Alanna’s advice to Stripe YSTE participants? “Think of Stripe YSTE as your gateway. It gives you an ‘in’ to science and engineering opportunities you might not know about, especially if you’re outside Dublin.”

Follow Alanna’s journey on LinkedIn.