BRYAN, Texas — The video conference application, Zoom, is reaching people of all ages. People use it for work meetings, to call grandparents and many students use it every day for school. Bryan ISD’s SFA Middle School Odyssey Team used the video chat program to meet with Texas A&M’s Robomaster Robotics team on Friday.
“Just because there is that restriction, we still try to provide the best education we can for our students," said Naveen Cunha, the Odyssey director at SFA Middle School. "I said, 'OK, Robomasters we’re gonna have to do this by Zoom.'”
Cunha wants to make his students aware of STEM programs and activities they can look forward to as they progress in school.
Typically, when the Robomaster Robotics team gives presentations they’re able to bring out their robots. While students could not see what all the gadgets can do in person, the robotics team still believes the point they were trying to get across was still successful.
"We want to not only build great engineers with our current team members, but we’re interested in helping and improving the engineering field throughout Texas and really throughout the United States," said Preston Cunha, a Ph.D. student at Texas A&M and a member of the Robomaster Robotics team.
The Robomasters told the students about their experience working in STEM and all the opportunities that come with it. For example, traveling to competitions and competing with some of the best teams all over the world.
“We really feel that this is very worthy of our time to invest in those young minds that are interested in pursuing similar tracks and similar careers," Cunha said. "[We want to] really encourage them and show them kind of the fun side of what engineering can be.”
Teaching the Odyssey team about STEM programs was not the only goal for the robotics team. They also wanted to show them they are dealing with Zoom and different ways of learning.
“It is still feasible, it's still possible to compete and to be learning through these hands-on methods even during a pandemic," Cunha said.
The Robomasters started the program in 2018. They hope to be able to visit SFA Middle School and work with students in-person in the future.