Newly opened education center on a mission to encourage robotics

Edward and Amanda Aina moved to Wake Forest from the Jersey Shore last year because it had just about everything they were looking for in a new hometown. Between being an emerging location for jobs in their field, better weather, and closer proximity to family, Wake Forest was as close to perfect as they were going to find.

Perfect, that is, except for the absence of a technology center where their 12-year-old could continue to foster their interest in robotics and technology. Such centers hadn’t been too hard to find in northeast Jersey, but options were limited within the Triangle.

At work, Edward and Amanda both work in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) field: he does tech consulting, and she’s a web developer in the healthcare industry. They know how quickly the field is booming, and how much that boom stands to benefit the next generation of students. 

Of course, without some facilitation, the passion of those future engineers might wither on the vine.

That’s where the Ainas come in.

Last month they launched RoboCode Explorers in Wake Forest. The facility combines technology and engineering instruction with modern tech applications and materials, bundled together in an after school program that encourages growth and excellence in its students.

“We want people to look at us as the place to come for STEM education in the area,” Amanda said. “We want children to be familiar with tech concepts from a young age and be ahead of the curve.”

The curriculum offers beginner and advanced robotics and coding courses for kids. The beginner classes are designed to get young students familiar with the concepts, while the more advanced courses focus on giving them opportunities to apply their knowledge and use it creatively.

The students integrate components from high-level Lego sets with a variety of gears, motors, rotors and more to create the robots and make them move. On the coding side, they learn languages like Scratch and Python. In gaining proficiency across the STEM spectrum, Amanda and Edward hope to instill curiosity in their students  that will carry into high school, college and beyond.

“We are really looking to set them up for success early on so that they’re prepared and experienced a little bit later in life when these concepts come into play in the job market,” Amanda said.

Much like in a professional setting, Amanda and Edward have students demonstrate the functionality of their project once it’s completed. These “Demo Days” are meant to mirror similar meetings where web developers and engineers show clients just exactly what they’ve been working on. 

Not only do Demo Days give students a chance to showcase their newfound tech skills, the opportunities put them into unfamiliar public speaking roles that force them to gain comfort and experience presenting before crowds.

“The goal is for them to be able to explain how they got through a process, how they arrived at a conclusion or decided on a course of action,” Amanda said. “Because those are things they’ll need to be able to do in the real world.”Looking ahead, Edward hopes the center’s instruction can extend into web development, artificial intelligence and 3D printing; burgeoning industries where job growth means opportunity for the current and next generation alike.

But the current curriculum more than satisfies a need for young students in Wake County. Most elementary and middle schools in the area don’t offer a program like RoboCode does. In starting one up themselves, not only do Amanda and Edward hope to provide a valuable resource for their own 12-year-old, but for many similarly curious kids across the county.

“We want to introduce all these interesting things that you might not find in schools so they can get passionate about them and explore for themselves what’s out there,” Amanda said.