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“Fully one-third of our economic GDP is generated from innovative products that were not invented 10 years ago, two-thirds of CEOs in Fortune 500 companies are engineers, but half of engineering students drop out in the first year of college.”
- Dr. Kenneth Berry, Assistant Director of the Science & Engineering Education Center, University of Texas at Dallas
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The AUVSI Foundation is committed to developing and supporting programs that reach students of all educational levels. Whereas the Robotic Competitions are typically intended to reach college and university students (there are no restrictions on other students participating), the Foundation has been developing a series of other activities that are aimed at students in elementary and secondary education.
RoboTour
This annual event is held in conjunction with AUVSI’s Unmanned Systems North America, the largest unmanned systems exhibition and conference in the world.
RoboTour gives students a chance to tour displays and robotic hardware from manufacturers from across the globe. The students have a chance to interact with the developers and program managers and see firsthand what a career in robotics looks like.
“Thank you for choosing Grant Ranch to go to the RoboTour.
In 25 years of teaching this was the best field trip ever!
This one event has generated more interest in college from our students
than any other activity we have gone to or had at our school."
Tech Rep, Grant Ranch Elementary School
RoboTour 2011 will take place next August at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC as part of AUVSI's Unmanned Systems North America 2011. For more information and pictures of RoboTour 2010, click here.
Robotic Speaker’s Bureau
If you’d like a speaker for a Career Day or for a local Civic Club event or similar type of activity, please contact Daryl Davidson at davidson@auvsifoundation.org.
Mentoring Program
The increasing interest in Robotics and the growing number of robotic competitions has created a need for Mentors to work with student groups and schools.
If you are seeking a Mentor, or if you would like to volunteer to be available as a Mentor in your area, please contact davidson@auvsifoundation.org.