Middle School Students to Participate in Robotics Camp July 21-25 at STCC
Twelve middle school students from Springfield and Agawam will spend the week of July 21 at a free Robotics Camp at Springfield Technical Community College. Between 8:00 and 3:00 each day, the eleven girls and one boy, ages 11-13, will be learning in the mezzanine area of building 20 at STCC which houses the college’s Electrical Engineering Technology and Robotics programs.
Lab assistant Helen Lalone explained, “The students will be building, programming, and personalizing their own individual autonomous robots.” She stressed that these will be actual small robots, not preassembled toys. “The students will be in a continuous state of building robots and props all week, using both labs and the hallway space in the department.”
She noted that Friday will be the most active day of the camp, as the children will be setting up their activities for an open house at 4:00, with parents invited to a showcase and dinner.
Adrienne Smith, Dean of the School of Engineering Technologies at STCC, who initiated the camp, said, “I wanted to provide an opportunity for young women to engage in a fun, hands-on program that introduces them to a non-traditional career. The number of women in the fields of engineering has not increased over the last 20 years. Young women need exposure to these careers so that they can understand what is involved in these fields, and realize that they have the skills and abilities to be successful in these high-paying jobs.”
Smith noted that the camp is being “provided free of charge through a generous donation from the Regional Employment Board of Hampden County.” She added that the college hopes to be able to expand the robotics camp program next summer.