Saskatchewan Science Centre has partnered with IBM to host the Saskatchewan Robotics Challenge. As part of the IBM Centennial year celebrations IMB’s subsidiary ISM Canada and Saskatchewan Science Centre will donate time and expertise in communities.
Saskatchewan Robotics Challenge works with volunteers from the Science Center and IBM to help Imperial Community School students build and program robots. The program is part of the IBM Celebration of Service initiative that is being run in more than 120 countries worldwide.
In Canada the Saskatchewan Robotics Challenge places special emphasis on reaching out to young people from inner-city and First Nations schools. The senior location executive for IBM Saskatchewan, Hugh Hudson said that the Science Centre is bringing in kids from inner city and on-reserve schools and he really enjoyed working with those kids.
The senior software developer for IBM Andrew Edgar said that while he never got to play with robots as a kid he loved being involved with the students because it allows him to teach students the value of what they are learning.
The students too are picking up more than just technical skills. They are not used to educational away from school experiences of the kind they get here. The smiles on their faces as new explorations come about keeps the volunteers happy as well.