Malden High Students Enter Robotics Exhibition

[Editor's note: The following was submitted by Malden High School.]

Whiz kids: Kelvin Tajeda Baez, Moses Irungu and Andrew Napier

Whiz kids' school: Malden High School

Whiz kids' accomplishment: Built a robot for a national exhibition.

Whiz kids' key to success: Malden High School Technology teacher Chris Bazzinotti and three students, junior Andrew Napier, freshman Kelvin Tajeda Baez and senior Moses Irungu entered their robot, “Maldenbot” into the annual Botfest exhibition at the UMass Lowell campus on Saturday, April 9. The Malden entry was a demonstration robot (cricket) that followed a laid out grid within a wooden case.

Botfest is a non-competitive exhibition of interactive, build-it-yourself robots and animatronics. The robots are designed to be completely autonomous; they perform tasks completely on their own, with no remote control.

By designing, building, programming and documenting robots, students use science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) as well as writing skills in hands-on projects that reinforce their learning.

This regional event is part of the second annual National Robotics Week celebration. The event is organized by iRobot Corp., the Technology Collaborative and various companies, organizations and universities, including UMass Lowell, Mass Technology Leadership Council, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Boston’s Museum of Science, Carnegie Mellon, Stanford, Microsoft Research and the Smithsonian.

The goal of the National Robotics Week is to celebrate America’s leadership in robotics technology development, educate the public about how robotics technology impacts society both now and in the future, advocate for increased funding for robotics technology research and development and inspire students to pursue careers in the STEM fields.