ThanhVan Dang | Student Spotlight

ThanhVan Dang

BS Candidate
Chemical Engineering

"Like most high schoolers, I found the pressure to pick a major and single lifelong career path pretty terrifying. I initially chose Chemical Engineering simply because it was incredibly versatile and offered a stable career path. I wanted a broad toolkit that kept as many doors open as possible. However, I became much more dedicated to the field when my mom developed a brain tumor. In the middle of trying to navigate that, managing her nutrition was one of the few tangible things I could actually control to support her recovery. That sparked a fascination with how what we put into our bodies affects our health, and I arrived at Stanford fully intending to use my engineering degree for food product development.

Since being here, though, my perspective has expanded. Having access to Stanford’s advanced research resources and getting hands-on experience within the Bao Lab made me realize that I had the opportunity (and the capability) to aid in human health much more directly. While I still love the science of food, my focus has naturally evolved toward biotechnology and detection systems designed to restore patients’ physical abilities and improve lives.

Academics aside, my absolute favorite part of Stanford has been the ChemE community. Some of my best memories are the chaotic late nights spent with my Power team on ChemE Car, fighting for our lives to get a battery to work while talking about anything and everything. The professors here genuinely care about us as individuals, and my peers have this contagious passion for such a vast range of topics. Outside of the department, my happiest memories are spent simply exploring the bay, grabbing late-night food, and laughing my stress away with my friends.

After graduation, I plan to work in the biotechnology field, helping build devices and systems that restore physical abilities to those who need them most. Down the road, I also fully intend to go to culinary school, because why not? At the end of the day, the goal is exactly the same: using my skills to bring a bit of comfort and joy to people's lives."