Page 10 - Aerotech News and Review, Aug. 4 2017

NASA, AERO Institute sponsor robotics workshop
by Linda KC Reynolds
staff writer
It isn’t MIT, but with the level of intelligence, one might wonder if col- lege students stepped into a magical machine that turned them into elemen- tary school-sized geniuses.
NASA and the AERO Institute sponsored a Summer Robotics Work- shop where students worked in teams to design, build, program and test Lego Robots using a EV3 program and also made other projects that en- couraged them to use their imagina- tion and inspire them to take more science, technology, engineering and math classes.
“This is a new paradigm shift,” said Michele Browning, a parent from Al- tadena, as she watched children work- ing on their robots. “What kids used to do in high school, they are now doing in the third grade.” Browning’s son, Carson, 10, became interested in robotics when he visited an aquarium and then saw Iron Man at the age of four. He now plans to be a mechanical engineer and design the robot that will someday search the oceans on Europa, an icy moon of Jupiter.
“These kids grew up with people living in outer space on the Interna- tional Space Station — their parents or grandparents grew up with the dream of going into space and landing on the moon. Can you imagine what will happen 20 years from now?” pondered Browning.
Eliseo Cruz, a NASA intern and Palmdale Aerospace Academy gradu- ate, will soon be attending Northern Arizona University to pursue a degree in electrical engineering. Cruz is an instructor for the summer program and works with a handful of high school mentors who help instruct the class.
Cruz says he had zero interest in engineering or robotics. His friend, Christian, invited him to a robotics meeting and, filled with dread, Cruz attended to appease his friend.
“It was so cool, that one meeting changed my life,” confesses Cruz. He
Photographs by Linda KC Reynolds
Serious business: Students participate in a Summer Robotics Workshop sponsored by NASA and the AERO Institute where they learned to design, build and program Lego Robots.
couldn’t wait to get home and inform his mother that he needed to be in Te- hachapi at 6 a.m. the next morning for a meeting. “My mom brought me and she was so excited about the program that she became a team mom.”
Cruz is an original member of Gryffingear, joining in 2013. In 2015 he drove the robot that won the World Championship in St. Louis, competing against 400 other teams.
“It was one of the coolest experi-
ences I ever had. The energy was like going to a concert at Staples or Dodger Stadium,” said Cruz who met people from all over the world.
He encourages all students to go to at least one robotics meeting. “We need artists, marketing people — I think there is something for everyone in robotics.”
For more information, visit https://www.firstinspires.org/robotics/ frc.
Third grader Alexis Adams gets a little help from Eliseo Cruz, a NASA intern and Palmdale Aerospace Academy graduate, during a Summer Robotic Workshop. Cruz was not interested in robotics or engineering until he attended a robotics meeting in high school. The meeting changed his life and will be attending Northern Arizona University to pursue an electrical engineering degree this fall.
Smart kids: Students pose with their robots and mentors during a Summer Robotics Workshop sponsored by NASA and the AERO Institute. The program is designed to get kids interested in STEM education.
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