Senior Nuha Babool spends her Thursdays after school in a South classroom alive with motion. Miniature car parts take shape layer by layer in the 3D printers, while scattered sketches and laptops crowd the tables. Teammates huddle over designs, adjusting measurements, debating aerodynamics, and assembling portfolios that document every detail of their vehicles. Around Babool, the steady chatter of collaboration fills the space.
As team manager and co-founder of STEM Racing, a competitive subset of Engineering Club at South, Babool helps lead students as they design, build, and market miniature race cars for tournaments as the Liteus Racing Team, Babool added.
“I’m the intermediary,” Babool said. “My job is to manage both the engineering and business side to make sure that everyone can work together and that there’s no confusion,” Babool said.
Babool does not lead alone; her twin sister, senior Zenia Babool, serves as team lead and co-founder of STEM Racing, working alongside Nuha to bring STEM Racing’s vision to life, Nuha said. The sisters complement each other in a way that strengthens the entire club, Mike Sinde, Career and Technical Education teacher and Engineering Club sponsor, said.
“Nuha and Zenia are strong at math, science, and English, but for us in engineering, it’s putting that all together,” Sinde said. “They’re able to do that. They’re the whole package.”
Last summer, Nuha participated in the ComEd Electric Vehicle (EV) Rally, a program that brings together Illinois teenage girls to build and race electric go-karts. The experience accelerated both her technical skills and her interest in the automotive world, eventually inspiring her to found STEM Racing, Nuha said. When building the team, she wanted to offer other girls the same sense of belonging she had found; today, the club is evenly split between girls and boys, Nuha added.
Nuha believes many students misunderstand what work in STEM actually looks like. While the process can be demanding, she sees it as an outlet for creativity and ambition, Nuha explained.
“People have a misconception that engineering can be hard and boring,” Nuha said. “It is difficult, but it’s definitely not boring because when you have a dream to make something, you turn to STEM to make it happen.”
Balancing leadership, competition deadlines, and the unpredictable trial-and-error of building a race car can be overwhelming, Nuha said. Still, she returns each week to the club with the same excitement that first led her to enter the world of engineering.
“Sometimes I feel really stressed,” Nuha said. “But most of the time, I know that I’m working towards something that I love.”
