Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers

Dayton Professional Chapter

RYAR – Sensing Management Branch

A special thanks to our volunteers from RYA who led and executed a virtual Bilingual STEM event on 29 September 2021.  AFRL, the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE), and Science, Mathematics, and Research for Transformation (SMART) partnered for a Science Night at Belmont high school which included dinner and a robotic arm competition.  There were 28 underrepresented students from 15 different countries (US, Dominican Republic, Uganda, Mexico, Angola, Columbia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Congo, Eritrea, Honduras, Rwanda) and 10 languages, one advisor, and 4 AFRL volunteers who participated.  The STEM event was a follow-on requested by the students. SHPE and SMART sponsored the event and provided participation gifts and competition prizes for the students. Students were introduced to both SHPE and SMART opportunities and resources in addition to a team-building Robotic Arm STEM exercise. The winning team was able to build a robotic arm with cardboard, string, straws, and masking tape that could pick up different objects such as plastic cups, plates, and an envelope.  The students worked in teams to design, test, and augment their robotic arm with limited instructions. The volunteers were successful in getting the students to work in groups, communicate their construction ideas, and have fun while being exposed to STEM.  Thanks again for contributing to the community, Belmont High School, SMART, and SHPE Dayton.