On March 22nd and 23rd, youth-led teams from South Western Ontario will descend on the University of Waterloo to compete in the Waterloo district FIRST Robotics Competition (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), a qualifying event for the provincial competition in April.
This year, 8 regional teams will join 32 other school and community teams entering their robots in competition with and against each other through a round-robin style tournament.
This show features an interview with Professor Maud Gorbet, director of the Biomedical Engineering Program at the University of Waterloo, a long-term volunteer and member of the steering committee with Waterloo-Wellington FIRST, and a mentor on the KW based robotics team: the 2702 Rebels. She discusses the competition, the importance of applied STEM education, and efforts to address the underrepresentation of women and non-binary folks, as well as Indigenous, Black and other racialized populations in STEM disciplines.
