“Today I am living the dream of 12th-grade Mariya who wrote her college essays thinking one day she would change the impact of chemical industries,” Mariya Layurova said.
Mariya, who graduated from Riverstone in 2014, works as the Managing Scientist at Sublime Systems.
“Our mission at Sublime is to decarbonize cement manufacturing,” Mariya said, “Not many know but cement production accounts for 8% of all emissions worldwide.”
Mariya was the second employee to join Sublime Systems.
“It has been an amazing adventure to watch the process we have designed develop from the tiniest scale making just a few grams of cement to now recently seeing it produced on a several-ton pilot scale,” she shared. “It has been a wonderful opportunity to work with the company and learn so much about what it takes to build technology and a successful company from scratch.”
She’s realized her high school self’s dream at Sublime; it’s her years of dedicated work that have gotten her there.
After Riverstone, Mariya attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where she pursued a degree in
Chemical Engineering and felt as prepared as one can be for MIT. She jokes that, although nothing can truly prepare you for the intense learning pace at MIT, the strong foundations she built at Riverstone helped her get accustomed to the pace.
“MIT added a lot of complexity to the knowledge I already had from my IB classes,” Mariya said.
After her sophomore year at MIT, Mariya participated in research at Imperial College London, studying diffusion coefficient of CO2 in hydrocarbons for enhanced oil recovery modeling.
“I had other research experience before then doing some financial modeling for wind farms, but it was not as exciting as having hands-on research experiments running very complex equipment and pressurizing materials at almost 9,000 psi to run my tests,” Mariya said.
“That summer I learned how much I loved technical work with hands-on research. The nature of the work I do is still very similar to what I did that summer—it was one of the most defining experiences for me.”
After graduating from MIT, she returned as a career development mentor.
Mariya describes her research in London as a defining experience for her interest in hands-on research, but attributes her curiosity and passion for sustainability and clean energy to Riverstone.
“Thinking back, I think a lot of that awareness regarding climate change was introduced in our ESL classes by Jane [Armstrong],” Mariya said. “After my time at Riverstone, all of my work, studies, and research have been focused on
sustainability and clean energy technology.”
Jane Armstrong, DP Language and First Language Support teacher, still has fond memories of teaching Mariya.
“Mariya was a student who embraced learning,” Jane said, “She always hoped to change the world, but it wasn’t until her senior year that she became serious about how she might actually change the world. Even though she didn’t expect to be considered for MIT, she decided to go for her dream school and it paid off. I’m not at all surprised that she is fulfilling the dream of changing the world through her work.”
Along with clean energy technology and sustainability, Mariya also developed a love for the outdoors (and more than a few memorable stories) over her time at Riverstone.
Despite coming from a beautiful mountain town in Kazakhstan, Mariya said she didn’t have an appreciation for or experience hiking until Riverstone’s Outdoor Program. She recalls her first trip, where, like many students, she realized her lack of preparedness and learned to thrive through the experience.
“For my first trip, I will never forget bringing way too many snacks, random unnecessary supplies, and even a few cans of Diet Coke,” Mariya said. “My uncle always drank Diet Coke, and I quickly picked up his habit once I started living withmy aunt and uncle in Idaho.
“So, for me, it was unimaginable to go backpacking for almost a week without some Diet Coke. After hiking all day to our first campsite, I gave away all of my Diet Coke realizing what a fool I was.”
Mariya said she had no idea how much walking one person could do in a day.
“Despite what felt like almost breaking my hips under the weight of my backpack, that trip showed me how far I
could actually get,” Mariya said. “If I knew what was waiting ahead, I would have never gone on that trip, but I am so glad I went. That experience still gives me confidence in moments of doubt.”
That incident with the Diet Cokes and other tough experiences didn’t turn her away from hiking and the outdoors. In fact, her love has continued to grow since leaving Riverstone. In the fall, she explored one of her favorite hikes in Banff: Devil’s Thumb in Lake Louise. She also plans to hike when she visits her home in Kazakhstan in a few months.
Through all of her experiences, Mariya has remained certain of one thing: she wants to make a difference and help bring about lasting change.
“Before I wanted to be a Chemical Engineer to help better utilize resources for my country, but later I realized I wanted to help the world,” Mariya said.
And, we know from her tenacity at MIT and on the mountain that day with the Diet Cokes, there isn’t much that can stand in her way.
We are proud to watch Mariya make the world a better place.
.png&command_2=resize&height_2=85 "Symbolic Learning and The Zionosphere")
