Angelina Xu: brilliant MIT student wins eighth ESET fellowship for women in cybersecurity

Basking Ridge High School alumna Angelina Xu was recently awarded another prestigious award – the 8th Annual Women in Cybersecurity Scholarship offered by ESET North America. Angelina, a 2021 graduate of Ridge High School, is one of four women selected to receive this scholarship.

A brilliant academic journey

Currently, Angelina is a sophomore at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where she is pursuing degrees in electrical and computer engineering, maintaining a perfect grade point average of 5.0. Throughout his academic career, he has demonstrated a strong dedication to his studies and an exceptional commitment to achieving his academic goals.

Your commitment to cybersecurity

In a recent statement to ESET, Angelina highlighted the importance of diversity and female representation in the field of cybersecurity. “As a woman in STEM, I am aware of the obstacles I may face in the field. However, I am determined to overcome these challenges and become a leader in the industry. I believe the most successful teams are those that are diverse in perspectives, experiences and backgrounds. I hope to become a leader and mentor to other women, encouraging them to pursue careers in STEM," she said.

Significant contributions and future plans

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Angelina, a member of various science clubs at her high school, worked to reduce economic barriers for her peers, such as entry fees for STEM competitions. After her freshman year at MIT, she did a summer internship at the Waksman Institute of Microbiology, during which she successfully published four new DNA sequences in the NCBI international database. Going forward, Angelina aspires to develop algorithms that can identify and isolate malicious software before it can cause damage to a system or network.

Further accolades

ESET is a global digital security company that offers the Women in Cybersecurity Scholarship annually to help tackle the under-representation of women in the cybersecurity industry. That's not the only accolade Angelina has received: In April, she was awarded a $25,000 scholarship by Chick-fil-A. She was one of 13 community members nationally shortlisted for this inaugural award, as part of the new Chick-fil-A™ Community Scholars program.