Amanda Opp was one of the winners of NREL’s 2017 Lithium-Ion Battery Car Competition.
Amanda just finished middle school at The Manning School in Golden, CO, where she was honored to be in the National Junior Honor Society. She loves to volunteer in the community, and being in NJHS encouraged her to collect volunteer hours in a lot of different places. She loves the sciences and language arts, and she especially liked the jewelry-making class she took spring semester.
Amanda’s favorite subject has always been Science; she loves asking questions to find out how things work. When she was young, she loved to take apart old electronics to see the insides.When she found a circuit board, she thought it was really interesting to see how it worked. She loves the sciences because she loves exploring all the ways to find a solution to a problem. She also believes that there is a very important roll for girls to play in science, and one day she hope to stand among many other female innovators.
Aside from school, Amanda also plays basketball and throws shot put and discus. She has been doing both sports since she was 8. Throwing in track and field is an individual sport, and Amanda likes being able to set personal goals and being responsible for meeting or beating them. Being on a basketball team has taught her the value of working with others, and she enjoys the feeling of sharing a win with her teammates.
In her free time, Amanda reads, hikes and goes to sporting events with her family. She also goes to festivals and concerts in Denver, and likes to travel around the country. Museums are always favorite spots when she goes to different cities.