Siti Syameen Md Khalili finds out how two sisters are helping the young become passionate about science and technology
MENTION robots and many picture a mechanical toy, boys with glasses, tools, cables, controllers and computers.
However, at Roboticist @ The School, the latest robotics learning centre in Petaling Jaya, you will see two young women, Ilylia Diyana and Nabila Kamaruzaman, busy working on controllers, wires, batteries, motors and sensors. The sisters may spark your interest in Vex Robotics (a platform to introduce learners to the fundamentals of robotics and exposure to career opportunities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics) and woo you with wonderful tales of children across the country whose lives has been inspired by robotics.
Owned and managed by Robotics Learning, Roboticist @ The School started on Oct 30 in conjunction with the launch of Steam, Festival Of Learning at The School, the country’s first enrichment mall. Roboticist is the country’s first robotics learning centre that incorporates Vex Robotics, a sustainable platform designed to introduce students and adults to fundamentals of robotics and expose them to career opportunities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (Stem).
Ilylia and Nabila’s mission is to create opportunities for the country’s youth to learn about robotics and hopefully, inspire future roboticists. The 167sqm Roboticist @ The School, involving an investment of about RM500,000, may be new but the dynamic duo has had five years of experience reaching out to students in more than 60 rural schools. Robotics Learning also sponsored teams to compete in the Vex Robotics World Championships.
“There is a great push by the government to encourage more students in school to adopt Stem as we are in need of skilled workforce for nation building. Five years ago, when we first started robotics learning programmes in rural schools, not many realise what Stem was all about, but in developed countries like the US and Canada, they had introduced robotics as a subject or extra curricular activities,” says Ilylia, managing director of Robotics Learning.
“In 2009, I brought in Vex Robotics and Robot C programming software and teamed them with Carnegie Mellon programming modules to provide a hands-on learning experience that we can grow with. In school, children learn formulas and calculation involving gears, torque and force but only in theory. With robotics we get them to experiment, apply formulas and understand how things work in the real world.”
As training resource director, 28-year-old Nabila says it was their entrepreneur father, Kamaruzaman Sulaiman who encouraged her to join her eldest sister’s venture. Nabila’s involvement in the school outreach programmes started when she was still a Psychology undergrad. “Our father pointed out that the development of our youth is imperative for nation building. Many of them don’t realise or they forget the importance of education. Reaching out to them is not easy as today’s youth have different challenges. So robotics is one of the hooks that will engage these youths and indirectly influence their development,” she says.
Our parents also recommend that we include good values such as respect, team work and internal drive in our robotics learning modules so that they become stronger as individuals.”
CURIOUS CREATIVE KIDS
Often the team is asked how capable students in rural schools are when it comes to robotics. “We believe in democratising learning, so as students in rural areas have fewer chances to be involved in new technologies, we started by introducing our programmes to them first. I get thrown questions like whether rural students can tackle robotics, all the time. I confidently say ‘Yes’ because, for the past five years, I have seen what they can do. Even those labelled ‘mischievous’ or ‘won’t go far’ by teachers and peers, have done well in our programmes and they still keep in touch with us. Basically the students and teachers just needed the right approach and module. That’s why we love Carnegie Mellon’s approach on how to programme Vex Robotics, which teachers can further adopt through certification process,” she says.
Quick to agree, Nabila cites as example her favourite school, SMK Telemong. “The students are intriguing as all of them, regardless of race, prefer to speak in Mandarin. They refused to communicate in English and even Malay students didn’t want to speak in Malay! We requested for a mix of students that included problematic ones, and the teachers wished us luck,” she says.
The first four hours were tough. “They thought that since we came from the city, we would look down on them. So we took our time and asked them about themselves, their town. When we showed them that we really want to get to know them as a person and about their lives, they opened up,” says Nabila.
The rest of the two-day programme went smoothly.
“When the robots kicked in, the kids surprised us with how quickly they mastered the basic skills! They were able to build robots, program them, learn some English along the way and had fun. It goes to show that these so-called problem children would go out of their way to prove people right. Yet, when given the chance, they can and will shine.”
Ilylia’s favourite school is SK Lurah Bilut. “At the end of the programme there, the kids learnt more about their own strength. Some of them were good at building while others had a knack for programming. Some were good at both. They were inspired after learning about possible career choices for their newfound talent and skills. It took me back to when I was a student, unsure of where to go after SPM. I took medicine but dropped out in the third year to switch to international business management as it had taken me that long to figure out my own strength,” says Ilylia.
“I feel that while our education system is great for knowledge gain, robotics can enhance it by giving children examples of the world beyond their schools.”
FROM MODULE TO SCHOOL
The idea to establish a commercial robotics learning centre came from the sisters’ youngest sibling, the late Izmir Kamaruzaman, who realised that there was a huge demand from the general public but access to robotics modules are scarce.
“In the beginning, we were a trio. It’s bittersweet, really, to launch Roboticist @ The School without our brother, Izmir, who passed away just recently. He was 27 and an advertising graduate, so a bulk of the centre’s concept, layout and design came from him,” says Nabila. Ilylia says she thought of giving up as the family mourned his passing.
“The three of us were working on the 2014 Rural Business Challenge and all this while, he was the one presenting our ideas to the panel at each stage. We suggested having a robotics learning centre in every State to offer modules at affordable rates as a way to reach out to more people. Two days after Izmir passed away, we were supposed to present our proposal at the final stage. I told the organisers I couldn’t do it, but they encouraged me and kindly granted more time to prepare. I didn’t know where the strength came from but we did the final stage presentation anyway. We are still waiting for the results but we have high hopes as we really want to robotics to benefit more people,” she says.
Offering robotics learning modules for children age 6 and above as well as interested individuals, Roboticist has six instructors who are mostly engineering graduates with deep interest in robotics, programming and youth engagement.
Nabila says: “Rather than ask if they are good in maths or science, the first thing we ask while hiring is ‘do you enjoy interacting with kids?’. That is most important aspect of the job as the rest of our modules can be acquired through further training.”
Two of the coaches currently attached to the centre are interns from UniKL, Muhammad Aminuddin Ibrahim, 24 and Ku Mohd Syafiq Ku Ahmad, 25. “We are final-year engineering students and we found out about the internship at Roboticist. As we are interested in robotics, this centre is like a dream come true. Robotics is still very new here, so finding an organisation that can give us a chance to experience it hands-on is truly rare,” says Ku Mohd Syafiq.
Muhammad Aminuddin says he finds working with children easy and aspires for a career in robotics. “Coaching kids is fun as they are so curious and creative. That said, I harbour hopes of being able to design and build my own unmanned aerial vehicle to benefit the agricultural sector,” he says.
Working to make the centre beneficial to the community, Ilylia believes robotics is great for bridging arts and sciences. “I met a dancer whose first passion is arts but she learnt how to programme the LED lights on her dancing costume so that the pattern created by the lights would match her movements. That’s arts and science combined,” she says.
“It will also be applicable to disciplines like architecture, where you need to have an artist’s talent paired with engineering knowledge to come up with wonderful yet achievable building designs.”
From Nov 25-30, Roboticist through Steam, Festival Of Learning will demonstrate how art and science can merge. “We will be featuring renowned contemporary artist Amir Zainordin. The public will be invited to paint, write and photograph using the robot inventions on various materials. We plan to bring the same showcase to Brazil later in December,” says Nabila.
Ultimately, the sisters are hoping that one day, educational robotics will be available in all schools, as a subject or an extra curricular activity. “Until that happens, we will play our part in bringing robotics to as many people as we can, replicate this centre and its features in as many places as possible and hope educational robotics will make a difference in their lives,” says Ilylia.
Details at www.myroboticslearning.com or www.facebook.com/roboticslearning.