Spokes is an MIT-based, non-profit, student-run initiative to rethink STEAM education. This year will be the 12th iteration of this program at MIT.
This summer, Spokes is sending a team of 7 MIT students on a cross-country bike ride starting on the steps of Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. and ending at the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. Over the course of 75 days, our team will bike over 4,000 miles and host Learning Festivals in schools, libraries, and correctional facilities in 11 towns along the way. You can check out our route here!
WHO WE ARE
We are a team of 7 students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, MA. We all came to MIT to pursue our passions in math, science, art, design, and the humanities, but more importantly, we believe in sharing our knowledge with others in to inspire future generations. Check out our biographies below to learn more about each one of us!
WHAT WE DO
We create curriculums that complement each host’s curriculum inspired by MIT’s hands-on approach to education. We teach these workshops to schools, libraries, and summer camps all across the United States. We establish strong connections with communities, students, and host families along the way. We document our experiences. We sweat (a lot). We become a family.
Oh yeah… and we bike the whole 4,000 miles.
Why Bike?
We want to show that yes, engineers and scientists can be athletic too. We’re breaking stereotypes. We’re also stepping out of our comfort zones, physically and mentally. And…how many people can say they’ve biked across the United States of America?
We need your help
We’d love to do what we do for free, but with a trip this big, we need the support of dedicated individuals like yourself. We’re looking to crowdsource $15,000 to make this trip happen, on top of large corporate sponsorships. If you are a cycling advocate or enthusiast, please consider supporting our journey. If you connect with our mission and want to help us reach out to kids across America, please consider supporting us.
Meet the Team
Aarushi Mehrotra
’26
helloooo everyone! i’m aarushi, a senior in course 20 (bioengineering) and 6-3 (computer science). at MIT i work on modeling protein evolution with machine learning, specifically for how to better predict flu vaccine strains, and i’m planning on pursuing my PhD in computational biology after i graduate (and after SPOKES!!). i’m so lucky to have lived with the @b1ners and become a brother at @mitnumbersix during my time at MIT, and i’m so so excited for my newest community, the spokes 2026 team!! what an incredible opportunity to do something crazy that will not only better my life forever but also those of kids across the country (the majority of which i have yet to experience!). outside of school and spokes, you can find me dilly-dallying, picnicking, wandering, reminiscing, or hanging out with my friends, probably laughing at something really funny one of them said. 😽
Carmen McCay
’29
Hii! My name is Carmen and I’m a first-year planning to study chemical engineering and biology (course 10B)! I’m from Phoenix, Arizona where I’ve grown accustomed to exploring the outdoors in the blazing heat! I’m incredibly excited to bike and hike through such a wide variety of climates along the journey. My first year at MIT has been made exponentially better by the amazing people I live with. I’m very lucky to call h4 my home. On campus, I’ve just begun a UROP with the Jaklenec lab where we will design biocompatible polymers for vaccine delivery! On the weekends, I can be found on trips with MITOC, where we get to hike in the mountains of New Hampshire, or walking around Wellesley’s beautiful campus with my sister. Some of my hobbies include crocheting, drawing, painting, and weightlifting. To me, Spokes is a once in a lifetime experience, and I’m so grateful I get to be a part of the team. I joined excited to face so many new and unknown challenges, and to bring STEM to kids across the nation! Once we get started, make sure to check our blogs for accounts of our daily sidequests! 🫡
Caroline Huang
’29
Hi! My name is Caroline, and I’m a freshman from Santa Rosa, CA. I’m currently undecided (thinking maybe Course 11-6, Urban Science and Planning with Computer Science), but I have a lot of interests in sustainability, technology, and design. Outside of classes, I’m a part of some groups, including lion dance, Geo@MIT, AT, Technique, and @h4cult . I love spending my free time journaling/painting or watching F1 whenever (literally whenever) there’s a race! I’m also a huge outdoors person and have been to 33 national parks, so I’m definitely excited to add a couple more to that list this summer as we make our way across the country 😙 Stay tuned for our blog/social media posts, and I can’t wait to start working with students through our workshops soon! So hyped to be part of this amazing team 🚲
Drew Dowdy
’29
Hello! My name is Drew Dowdy and I am a freshman from Lake Cormorant, Mississippi. I am studying Course 16 (Aerospace Engineering). I like to play a lot of different sports: Soccer, basketball, football, etc…. I also like cats, and playing piano,. My ultimate dream is to someday build a plane that I can fly around the country in. (i know its very aerospace engineery) But like the proto-avian therapod dinosaurs before us, I must learn to use my legs first, hence why I’m so excited to be biking across the US with MIT Spokes. I’ve always loved the thrill of sharing my passions with others, and I can’t wait to to meet kids from all across the country.
Nathan Mustafa
’25, ’26 MEng
Hi y’all, my name’s Nate. I’m from Houston, Texas and I’m looking forward to doing Spokes this summer 🙂
I’m currently an MEng student in the PDOS lab and during my undergrad at MIT I studied Course 6 (Electrical Engineering and Computer Science) and Course 18 (Mathematics). Aside from that, you can most likely find me running along the Charles, in the Z lifting or playing volleyball, or dancing salsa with MIT’s Latin Dance Club. I’m also a big fan of trying/cooking new food (but rice and ground turkey will always have a special place in my heart 🏆🥇).
I’m very excited to do Spokes this summer, it’s definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity and super impactful for all the students along the way. Make sure to keep up with the team by checking out the blogs on our website!
Angelica (Nunu) Zhuang
’26
Hi!! My name is Nunu and I’m a senior in Course 4 (Architecture). I’m from the Bay Area where I naturally split my time between exploring the city and adventuring the outdoors! On campus, I’ve lived all four years with the @b1ners my home away from home 💙 In my free time I enjoy eating good food, photography, arts, thrifting, and hanging out with my friends. I’m sooo excited to bike across the country this summer, to share my passion for design with students everywhere, and to do it all with the most amazing team 😁
Tatiana Vassiliev
’26
Howdy!! I’m Tatiana, and I’m a senior from Houston, Texas studying Course 6-2 (Electrical Engineering & Computer Science) and Course 15-3 (Finance). I’ve been teaching STEM since I was in middle school, and I am so excited to bring hands-on STEM workshops to students across the United States through Spokes!
I’m a big thrill-seeker who loves snowboarding, scuba diving, hiking, traveling, and trying new things. I’m down for anything, and especially biking 4,000 miles across the country!
On campus, I’m involved in Kappa Alpha Theta, Brass Rat Investments, Sloan Business Club, and MISTI. I’m passionate about negotiation, space, and learning by doing.
I love going to concerts with friends (Del Water Gap has my heart), crocheting, building Legos, dancing, and I am now learning how to make pottery 🙂 I’m beyond excited for the adventures that this summer will bring, and I can’t wait to share the journey with the best team and best supporters ❤ 🚴♀️
MIT Spokes 2026 