Encouraging scientific-technological vocations in children and adolescents is at the heart of every STEM outreach volunteer. Roboteam is an initiative carried out by volunteers from IEEE Women in Engineering Argentina affinity group (R9). The purpose of the program is to encourage the pursuit of STEM in school aged children through free workshops. Within these workshops, students experiment and learn about STEM disciplines such as electricity, electronics, energy, programming and robotics. The program also promotes socio-economic integration and gender diversity.
The third edition, Roboteam III, was a STEM virtual boot camp held in 2022. Over 40 students from underserved communities across Argentina participated in this edition, along with 25 teachers. The program focused on the concepts mentioned above along with activities to develop soft skills. The program also provided opportunities for hands-on activities through the use of STEM kits. The program took a broader approach as well, focusing on worldwide issues and topics that are relevant for engineers. These topics included UN Sustainable Development Goals, leadership, diversity and inclusion, humanitarian technology, potential disruptive technology, project management, and entrepreneurship. The students developed technical projects to provide solutions for social problems in their communities. They presented these projects to a jury that supported them to help go from idea to action.
Many notable results were reported following completion of this program edition. Over 50 volunteers from approximately 20 local partner organizations ran the entire program. The program had as many female students as male. Also, all 45 students were designated as agents of change in their communities. All 15 of the student projects contributed to the development of the UN Sustainable goals. Additionally, over 20,000 km were traveled to deliver the STEM kits to the students across the country.
Roboteam STEM Experience III was a recipient of the 2022 IEEE Pre-University STEM Grant Program.
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