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Baker College of Flint recently invited area high school students to participate in its first-ever Robotics and Alternative Energies Camp. A total of 14 students from Fenton High School, Flushing High School, Lakeville High School and South Western Academy attended the 5-day event.

“We offered the camp in order to introduce the science, engineering and technology fields to high school students,” said Dr. Anca Sala, Baker College of Flint engineering department chair. “Our goal was to involve students in hands-on learning activities related to building, programming and testing robots. We also presented the opportunity to investigate alternative energy sources.”

Activities throughout the week included wiring, programming, testing and driving a First Robotics Competition robot. Students also tested and drove the robot built for the 2009 First Robotics competition in order to compare the two machines for performance. In addition, the participants learned about alternative energies by building several small wind turbines. They were taught and coached by Dr. Sala; Tom Spendlove, Baker College of Flint engineering department instructor; and Jeffery White, a First Robotics competition mentor and parent of one of the attendees.

All 14 students look forward to participating in the second annual Robotics and Alternative Energies Camp at Baker College of Flint.

“The students really appreciated the hands-on experience and opportunity to build and program a robot, and meet and work with others who have the same interests,” said Sala. “They also enjoyed the unstructured format that allowed them to learn and work at their own pace.”