The Nebraska Robotics Expo came to the Strategic Air and Space Museum on Jan. 30., drawing in students and experts alike to preview the future of the role robotics will play in the classroom.
UNO’s College of Education and College of Information Science and Technology partnered with UNL, UNMC and others to help run the day’s activities at the facility, which is off of I-80 Exit 426 near Ashland, Neb.
The event ran all day and was open to any elementary, middle or high school students in the state, with some coming from as far away as Norfolk and Columbus, Neb. Teachers from participating schools attended a two-week seminar before the event and helped build some of the robots that were used at the expo.
“We’ve had some teachers who’ve never soldered before in their life, and at the end of the two weeks, they say ‘Wow, now I know how to solder,’” said Jim Wolfe, a staff member of UNO’s College of Education, who ran one of UNO’s exhibition booths.
More than 400 students from 60 different schools filled the SAC Museum. Students could browse a variety of educational booths and robotic demonstrations, or organize into teams and compete in a variety of events, ranging from robotic obstacle courses to presentations.
“I’d like them to take away the idea that there’s a different way to learn,” Wolfe said. “Not just using paper and pencil, but also hands-on activities, learning cooperation skills, learning skills that they can really use later in life.”
Local companies also lent their support, including Union Pacific and Cox Communications. Several prestigious grants, including the Silicon Prairie Initiative on Robotics in Information Technology grant, have helped turn Nebraska into a national leader and model for integrating robots in the classroom.
“We believe that Nebraska has the potential to become the national center in educational robotics,” said Bing Chen, one of the primary organizers for the event at UNO. “We want to give Nebraska children an edge,”
With the projected increase of science and technology-based jobs far outstripping the available supply of qualified young people in the state over the next 10 years, Chen said he believes that NU’s work in promoting this area of education is of paramount importance. He used technology company Lockheed Martin as an example.
“Lockheed Martin has indicated that in the next five to 10 years, they will retire 100,000 engineers,” Chen said. “The entire United States output is 70,000 engineers a year. So if you think about this, one company is going to exceed the entire country’s output.”
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