A handful of students will soon get an intense, hands-on opportunity to discover if they have a true affinity for technology.
Dr. Chrys Panayiotou, organizer of the upcoming 6-week Laser-Tech boot camp at Indian River State College, says “this is not for everybody.” He explained that he, himself, greatly enjoys music, but doesn’t have any inclination for it. The same can be true for some who participate in the boot camp.
“This gives kids an opportunity to taste technology,” Panayiotou said. Perhaps they’ll discover an innate talent. Maybe they’ll just be frustrated.
Either way, the boot camp offers them that experience, which can provide students – and parents – insights into what field of study they might want to focus as they prepare for their post-high school education.
“We’re not trying to make them do something they don’t want to do,” Panayiotou said. Instead, his hope is to raise awareness among both students and their families that the jobs of the not-so-distant future are in technological fields.
Everyone uses the Internet, smartphones, as well as the apps on those phones – but do they have a basic understanding of how they operate? “A little understanding of that goes a long way,” he said.
The next boot camp is geared toward students age 12-17 who will learn how to use an Arduino microcontroller “to automate the world.”
The camp starts Wednesday, Jan. 16, but registration is limited to about 13 students. Students who participate will focus on coding and the visible light spectrum. They will get hands-on instruction and an opportunity to draft, design and build through programming an LED (light emitting diode).
Coding will allow them to create personalized messages with the LED, send commands, as well as learn how to receive both digital and audible commands, according to the camp’s materials. Students will learn how a TV remote works and use the Arduino microcontroller to determine whether plants need to be watered. They’ll also learn how to program their own clock.
“The robots are coming!” Panayiotou said, parroting an oft-raised concern. He said the robots are already here, and while, yes, they are taking some jobs, they also are opening up the job force to the possibility of better, higher paying jobs.
The robots need to be built, maintained, installed and programmed.
Machines such as robots make life easier, replace the need for heavy labor, and take people out of what were once very dangerous jobs, Panayiotou said.
“Let the kids explore,” he said.
The Coding with Arduino Boot Camp will be held Wednesday evenings from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. from Jan. 16 through March 6 in room Y-208 on the IRSC Main Campus at 3209 Virginia Ave., Fort Pierce, at the Brown Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Cost for the Boot Camp is $225 and includes a customized, complimentary kit valued at $100, which participants take home.
For more information or for registration visit laser-tec.org, call 772-462-7179, or email info@laser-tec.org.
In the event more students seek registration than are seats for them, a waiting list will be created.
