An evening of robotics and coding exploration in action

Cummins Inc. has been supporting and involved with STEM education at schools in Columbus for many years. Since starting in 2015 at Schmitt Elementary, over time, Cummins has had a hand in STEM labs being incorporated into every elementary school in the district. The program has certainly evolved since inception, and, if you can imagine, with 2022-2023 being its first formal year, robotics is now part of the curriculum. 

This April, to showcase and demonstrate the curriculum’s results, Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation (BCSC), in partnership with Cummins and Columbus Robotics, hosted an eye-opening Robotics and Coding Exploration STEM event for third to sixth graders in the community: a first for these students … and their parents.

Sharing the learning

Tripti Gupta, Director, Engineering Services and STEM partnerships leader at Cummins, played a significant role in orchestrating the event and has spearheaded Cummins' ongoing involvement in STEM since 2015. "The world and technology are evolving within STEM itself," says Gupta. "What we used to talk about five or six years ago, and, what it is now, is so different. Events like this, where kids can apply that knowledge in a variety of ways, are really going to help our community see what is happening and make those changes tangible, experiencing first-hand what can be achieved through technology in today's world. The possibilities that lie ahead with STEM and its evolution are exciting to witness and help support."

The free event, held at Columbus East High School's Resource Area and Science Lab, was fully sponsored by Cummins in terms of both resources and "ideation." With about 700 students and parents from 11 elementary schools in Columbus attending, students participated in an evening of interactive STEM activities designed to explore, create, make and learn more about Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. Cummins employee volunteers were also on hand to help deliver an action-packed and engaging evening that resulted in lasting memories for all. 

Witnessing the learning

While parents watched in amazement, students used STEM skills to do everything from solving coding challenges to driving robots to turning a toothbrush head into a tiny robot.

Each student was required to have a parent or guardian present for the entire event. This was not only needed for logistical purposes, but, more importantly, provided exposure for everyone to see what these students are learning about and working with in the STEM labs.

Activities were organized into four, 25-minute rotation stations with approximately 75 students in each. Stations included:

• Robot Exploration: 17 robotic fields with four different missions – Mars Math Expedition, Ocean Science, Village Engineering and City Technology
• Design and Build a Bristlebot Station: a robot created from a toothbrush and a vibrating motor
• Columbus Robotics Team Demos and Interactive Challenges or Design & Create a Binary Bracelet
• Break the Code Boxes or Code a LEGO Maze Station

Supporting the learning

When BCSC introduced robotics in STEM labs, robot kits were available, however, competition boards to drive the robots on were not. Cummins was able to purchase and donate these boards for every school.  Cummins is also working with middle schools to add artificial intelligence and fuel cells to their STEM curriculum. 

"BCSC has made STEM learning and instruction a top priority for our eleven elementary schools," says Davida Harden, STEM Teacher/Lead at W. D. Richards Elementary School. "We continue to pursue pathways that allow for more teacher/classroom integration of STEM concepts, as well as strive to provide equitable opportunities for underserved communities to participate in STEM-related activities. Community partnerships, such as the one between BCSC and Cummins, have been instrumental in paving the pathway for our schools to connect STEM learning in the classroom to real world activities that make learning applicable to real life experiences."

Cummins believes it's only as strong as the health of its communities. As Cummins continues to build the pipeline for its industry, it is investing in students because they are the future. "As a company we focus our resources on three global priorities critical to healthy communities, one of which is education," says Gupta. "Exposing students to subjects such as robotics and coding at an early age, and creating a continuity from grade school to middle school to high school is very important. Whatever impact we can make to inspire learning in these young minds will greatly help our community - and the world - moving forward. We are continually looking for future opportunities of how we can broaden the span of STEM, raising awareness, enhancing enrollment and inspiring involvement. I am proud of what we, as a company and employees, are doing to create more learning opportunities for our youth."

Experience the exciting event by checking out BCSC’s STEM Exploration Night video!