DreamMakers and RiskTakers: Awards honor standout young innovators across the Tri-Valley

Celebrating its 15th year of honoring students making a difference, the Innovation Tri-Valley Leadership Group gathered to honor its 2025 DreamMakers and RiskTakers at Shannon Community Center in Dublin on Nov. 20.

The program, first started by the group after its formation in 2010, recognizes students from the Tri-Valley’s four school districts as well as its Regional Occupation Program and Las Positas College. Honorees are selected by the respective agencies and cover a range of achievements and programs.

The Butterfly Garden Group at Livermore High School (Ella Abey, Olivia Abey, Julie Johnson, Lucia Sangiorgio and Thyme Tolla), part of the Environmental Action Club, received the Tri-Valley 2040 Visionary Award for vibrant placemaking. 

The team partnered with Fertile Groundworks and Xerces Conservation Group to create a butterfly garden to provide milkweed habitat that is critical for Monarch butterflies. They plan to invite middle school students from East Avenue and Junction middle schools to visit on Earth Day 2026.

The 2025 DreamMakers and RiskTakers recipients were:

Krishiv Jaini, Advanced GIS Maps, Dublin: Jaini used NASA’s ECOSTRESS satellite data to create advanced GIS (geographic information systems) maps that track temperature, drought stress and wildfires across the Tri-Valley and beyond. 

His innovative work earned recognition on NASA’s website. By layering data to show how wildfires start and spread, Jaini’s maps serve as valuable tools for fire prevention, resource planning and climate resilience.

Aadya Huddar, ALS Detecting Tool, Livermore: Huddar is developing an artificial intelligence diagnostic tool to help detect ALS, collaborating with a fellow high school student under the guidance of a UCLA mentor and PhD student — a connection she established while attending COSMOS (selective STEM summer program) at UCLA. 

As president and founder of her school’s Coding Club, Huddar has independently organized, fundraised, and registered 12 students for the American Computer Science League competitions in both 2023-24 and 2024-25 and is leading efforts for this year’s team.

Aarush Tahiliani, Website Development for English Language Learners, Pleasanton: Tahiliani has worked on numerous websites for local Pleasanton businesses, modernizing their online presence, and is currently building a custom website for the district’s culinary department to meet its unique catering needs. 

His greatest contributions, however, have been for English language learners where he volunteered as a teaching assistant and leveraged his advanced Spanish skills to help students grasp computer science concepts. Tahiliani is developing a website that makes English learning more accessible and enhances both teaching and learning experiences — an effort already refined through feedback from multiple schools.

Jacob Trentini, Autonomous Drone Platform, San Ramon Valley: Trentini serves as a core engineer at FireBot Labs, helping develop the first autonomous drone platform for emergency response. His quick problem-solving during a live demo helped secure $20 million in funding. 

As a lead instructor for Kids Teach Tech, he inspires the next generation of innovators through robotics and coding. His first-author research, presented at the IEEE/ACM ICPC 2025 Conference, was the only paper accepted from a high school student and is now used by major AI companies. As lead engineer for FRC Team 8033, his work propelled the team to top global rankings.

Sriyan Daggubati, NeuroGuidance, San Ramon Valley: Daggubati is empowering neurodivergent students through innovation and compassion. As the founder and CEO of NeuroGuidance, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, he has made STEM education more accessible for youth around the world — mentoring more than 2,000 students across 20 countries. 

NeuroGuidance has raised more than $10,000 to expand outreach, partnered with leading higher education institutions such as Stanford and Duke, and reached a global audience of more than 100,000 through educational podcasts.

Sidhant Parashar, AI Mentoring Program, Las Positas College: Parashar is leading the creation of a collegewide mentorship program that uses AI to match students with mentors aligned to their goals — offering vital support for international and community college students.

His research spans social justice and mathematics, from analyzing unjust immigration policies to developing a new model that makes investing more accessible. Parashar’s outstanding work has earned national recognition, with invitations to present at prestigious conferences including UC Berkeley, Penn, UC Riverside and Metropolitan State University Denver.

Cadence Alexia Machicado, Entrepreneur, Tri-Valley ROP: Machicado was inspired by her mother and she began exploring business ideas at age 12 and has since launched her luxury candle company, Cadence Alexia. 

When initial plans for body butters faced shipping challenges, she pivoted to candles, carefully developing unique, allergy-friendly scents made with clean-burning wax and wicks. She tested her market with family, selling her first batch in less than 10 days, and has continued to grow her business with meticulous planning, including taking college courses in business, web design and accounting through the TVROP Middle College program.

Editor’s note: The DreamMakers and RiskTakers award program identifies standout students as their entrepreneurship is budding, but tracking what honorees from 10 or 15 years ago are doing now is quite difficult because high schools have no systematic way to track students after they graduate – so any information is word-of-mouth. Based on their achievements in high school, it’s easy to be confident they’re doing their part to change the world. If you have updated information about past winners, contact Tim Hunt at huntenterprises1@gmail.com.

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