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Launch of the "Complètement robot techno" project: Polytechnique and Folie Technique welcome 150 students from three Island of Montréal school boards

December 5, 2012 - Source : NEWS

On November 13 and 14, a total of 150 elementary and high school students from various disadvantaged and multi-ethnic neighbourhoods in Montréal visited Polytechnique Montréal to learn more about the world of engineering through the Complètement robot techno project, an initiative of “Une école montréalaise pour tous.”

To kick off the project, professors, guidance counsellors and students in electrical, computer and software engineering at Polytechnique Montréal welcomed the young visitors by guiding them through various scientifically themed activities and displays. These included the Esteban solar car, an exploratory video game workshop, explanations of robotics and the on-board systems used in drones, and a visit to the Polytechnique's Structural Laboratory. All in all, no effort was spared in tapping into the students' enthusiasm for science.

This cultural outreach project brings elementary and high school students together with their university-level counterparts at Polytechnique Montréal. Accompanied by these future engineers, the younger students are introduced to the fields of architecture, structural engineering, robotics and multimedia. The goal of the project is to design and build a structure, located in a specific environment, in which robotic machines move around and activate a digital screen. A multimedia documentary featuring this collective work and the institutions involved will be shown at the top of the structure, which is to be over 1.5 metres tall.

The projects, which are aimed at helping with the transition from elementary to high school, will be presented to the students and their parents during a special evening event at one of the schools involved. The projects will also be shown to the general public by the students themselves during the “24 heures de science” event, taking place at the Polytechnique in May 2013. In total, the younger students will meet about a dozen times with Polytechnique students, who will serve as genuine mentors over the course of the project. Folie Technique will provide bursaries to encourage participants in the project to continue with their exploration of science.



About “Une école montréalaise pour tous”

The harmonization of actions in disadvantaged and multi-ethnic neighbourhoods in Montréal led the professional teams working in the Supporting Montréal Schools Program (SMSP) to join forces and create the New Approaches, New Solutions (NANS) intervention strategy for the Montréal region. They work together under the new name “Une école montréalaise pour tous.”

See also:

Website for Folie Technique
Website for Une école montréalaise pour tous
Website for 24 heures de science

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