Racism is a crisis that permeates every aspect of our country and has long gone unchecked. The recent tragic deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor, among far too many others, continue to spark outrage and calls for action by people of all backgrounds.
We at MassRobotics condemn any type of discrimination, specifically the systemic racism against Black people in America and around the world. Our organization will continue to take mindful steps in order to add diversity to our workplace culture and encourage our community to constructively talk about these matters openly and honestly.
But more important than the words we say are the actions we take. As Mayor Walsh often says, education is the key to making change. We take that to heart. We provide inclusive STEM programming and activities for all students and will expand our focus around working with the underserved communities in and around Boston. Specifically, we will:
• Continue to work with leading organizations such as the Timothy Smith Network and BoSTEM to help identify schools to host workshops and hands-on robotics activities.
• Offer opportunities for Black & Brown students to meet and interact with the leaders and CEOs in the robotics world as we have done through our Robot Stories series.
• Build on the success of last summer’s drone camp at Dearborn STEM academy and offer a series of week-long intensive hands-on classes where students build their own drones and learn how to program them. This camp, which is free to Boston Public School students, is underwritten by a generous donation from Amazon Robotics so the students are able to keep the drone they build.
• Be a proud partner with Digital Ready, Wentworth Institute of Technology and the Barr Foundation to help launch Year 13. Year 13 will activate the next generation of Black and Latinx innovators for the city of Boston and the world. In Year 13, students will explore and pursue their purpose in one of three technical focus areas tied to the future of Boston and earn college credits while doing so.
• Support MA STEM week and host a series of robotics-related events, such as our Robot Block Party, to expose students of all ages to a wide variety of robotic applications.
For more information or to get involved in the work we do please contact us at info@massrobotics.org
Robotics & Construction event with Autodesk & Suffolk Construction 2019 with Boston Public School: Harvard-Kent
Latino STEM Alliance visit with their Robotics Program in April 2017
Drone Camp 2019 at the Dearborn STEM Academy – sponsored by Amazon Robotics
