The School of Informatics and Computing at IUPUI will serve as host to the 2014 Indiana VEX IQ Robotics State Championship February 22nd at the Informatics and Communications Technology Complex on the IUPUI campus.
The City of Indianapolis VEX Robotics Championship, presented by the Office of Education Innovation, and Robotics Education & Competition Foundation, is a competition to spur science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) activities at area high school and middle schools. A recent event, held at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on November 16-17, with support from Mayor Ballard, was host to over 40 schools from Marion County, 80 throughout the metropolitan area, and is one of over 300 events in the world serving over 4,800 teams.
Students and staff from the School of Informatics and Computing at IUPUI attended the STEM FAIR, where they showcased how Informatics plays a role in making technology more human-centered. At the event, Polly Baker, professor of Media Arts and Science in the department of Human-Centered Computing, demonstrated an innovative strategy for using hand movements and gestures to direct the motion of a small robot.
“Today, Informatics plays a key role in many different industries. Robotics is an example of a field where students can engage by making and designing information technology to serve people and augment our abilities to operate in the world. This is where Informatics comes into the picture, and it’s amazing to see how many high-school students are already interested in getting involved in this exciting area of study,“ said Davide Bolchini interim department chair of Human-Centered Computing and professor of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) at the School of Informatics and Computing.
The Robotics Education and Competition Foundation is committed to promoting technology and related student and professional advancement so that one day these programs become accessible to all students and all schools in all communities. Their goal is to provide these programs with services, solutions, and a community that allows them to flourish in a way that fosters the technical and interpersonal skills necessary for students to succeed in the 21st Century.
Media Contact
Joanne Lovrinic
jebehele@iu.edu
317-278-9208