Two lucky Dover Court students have been selected to spend a week in October engaging in hands-on workshops and tours of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) labs and makerspaces! As part of the MIT-Nord Anglia STEAM programme, these students will join other Nord Anglia students from around the world to take a deep dive into the future of technology and design through games and scavenger hunts on MIT’s camps, talks from MIT professors and more.
STEAM education is an integral part of the curriculum at Dover Court International School. As a Nord Anglia school, this includes our exclusive collaboration withMIT which places design thinking at the heart of our approach, inspiring creativity, and curiosity in our students through innovative challenges.
We are delighted to share that our students, Xavier (Year 11) and Hayden (Year 9) have been selected to represent Dover Court at this exciting event.
The MIT-Nord Anglia STEAM programme gives students the chance to experience student life at one of the world’s leading institutions for STEAM annually in Boston, Massachusetts. Participating students will immerse themselves in a culture of hands-on problem-solving. They will meet leading MIT scientists, build and experiment in workshops, and learn about the new discoveries that will shape their future. Activities during the MIT visit will include everything from building robots to bioengineering to coding. Xavier and Hayden will also have a chance to experience MIT student life.
To attend, Years 9 and 11 students across the Nord Anglia family of schools were invited to apply for a place by preparing their own creative response to the STEAM Challenge, ‘Hack a tube so it moves’.
Hacking can be defined as the implementation of harmless pranks, tricks and creative inventions that demonstrate ingenuity and cleverness.
Xavier shared that he signed up for the opportunity immediately after learning about it through the school’s newsletter: “I wanted to try my best to build something to visit MIT for a week and so I started to plan out my project. I created a robot sort of tube that can move and turn around. However, if it hits a wall, it goes backwards and gives a funny sarcastic comment.”
He had three ideas and had to narrow them down after considering the time involved and the feasibility of completing the project on time for the competition.
“I used a Raspberry Pi, ultrasonic sensor, a sensor to tell the distance from the wall and a remote sensor so I can turn it on and off,” said Xavier. “It was created out of humour and the main challenges were fitting everything inside the tube, looking for bigger tubes and finding a way to activate and stop the sensor.”
Xavier, who just completed his GCSE in Computer Science is keen to pursue Computer Science at University and aspires to become a Software Engineer. “I think it helps to lay a foundation for me to pursue that in university. I’m keen to apply to various Universities including Monash and Melbourne University,” he said.
Hayden also explained more about his project: “The sensor I created was to stop my dog from sneaking into places she shouldn’t be. For instance, when my dog walks through, the beam of light in my tube will be cut off and the buzzer will go off as it will not sense the light.”
Hayden noted that learning the basics of circuits in Years 7 and 8 really helped him. With the support of his mom, he did some additional research and was given some components by Mr Sacre and Mr Steves.
“I used circuits, bulbs, sensors, and a photoresistor for this. One of the main challenges was getting the alignment of my beam of light to the opposite side of the tube which I overcame by using reflective aluminium paper.” he continued.
At MIT, Xavier is looking forward to learning more about Software Engineering to follow his aspirations. Hayden, who is passionate about Maths, Science and Music hopes to keep an open mind to all the experiences and activities that will help him understand and explore different career options.
