Ahead of her final semester at Ashesi, senior, Brenda Mboya ‘18, participated in the inaugural Robotics Atelier, a robotics-centered workshop, held in Madrid, Spain.
The first of its kind, the week-long experience, supported by the Rolex Institute and organized by the Norman Foster foundation, brought together 10 students from 10 different countries from across the world, to learn, network and exchange ideas and experiences in the robotics space. As part of the experience, the ten students engaged with a group of experts though a series of lectures and seminars.
Here, Brenda shares her experience at the workshop through images and quotes.
Participating in the workshop was exciting, a unique exchange of ideas and experiences between myself and 9 other young scholars in robotics. We focused primarily on the relevance of robotics in design and architecture, working on team projects that explored the use of clay in robot-aided construction. An added bonus was the opportunity to work with an industrial robot on some of the projects we worked, providing more insight into the professional space.
My interest in robotics was sparked a couple of years ago, when I worked as a facilitator with the Ashesi Innovation Experience (AIX), where I helped introduce high school students to robotics. Since then, I’ve been hooked, and have sought opportunities to expand my knowledge in this space. The Atelier was definitely a significant step in my journey, providing a great opportunity for me to further explore the subject and interact with experienced roboticists.
More importantly, the workshop opened my eyes to the great potential of robotics in Africa. I got to interact and exchange ideas with roboticists from different parts of the globe, learning how they adapted their knowledge to their local settings. Through this experience I have gained some clarity regarding pursuing robotics. In addition, I want to introduce robotics to young people in Africa who are not aware of the revolution this technology is capable of.
images: Norman Forster Foundation