Dave G. Peter, Serhat Cetin and Bogdan Cristea

The team’s winning, creative teaching project, “Collaborative Robotics, AI and Engineering Design,” involves building a collaborative robotics and engineering lab where multiple teams can design and test real systems simultaneously. The lab combines robotics, AI, cybersecurity and advanced fabrication into one shared program rather than separate clubs, using a common rubric, engineering notebooks and peer design reviews. They will have students follow the engineering design cycle: define a problem, brainstorm, prototype, test, document results and iterate. According to the team, in robotics, students build and program FLL (FIRST LEGO League) and FTC (FIRST Tech Challenge) robots using microcontrollers and sensors and develop Jetson-based projects for autonomous navigation and vision. In Future City competitions, hands-on cross curricular education programs that bring science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) to life, teams design sustainable city infrastructure, fabricate custom parts with 3D printing and the xTool MetalFab system, and present data-driven plans. The CyberPatriot students build foundational cybersecurity skills by hardening systems and defending networks in simulated rounds while documenting procedures like engineers. According to the team, older students will mentor younger students, creating a pipeline that scales access and impact because they believe the best way to learn STEM is to do STEM. The Voya grant will be used to purchase robotics expansion components and sensors, microcontroller, electronics kits and replacement parts.