Hands-On Techie Talks

Meet Aidan Aird, a young entrepreneur, inventor, and student from the University of Toronto in our last episode of the year as we talk about dinosaur fossils, robot dogs, and becoming our best selves. He is a Guinness World Record holder, co-founder of the educational nonprofit STEM Kids Rock, and is an accomplished designer. We will be back in January after a holiday break, so until then attend some of our classes or download our Twenty robot materials at www.steamconnection.org.

We know you're interested in STEAM learning and you've come to the right place for that,  but what do you do from there? What kind of resources should you use for your continued learning? Hear Danielle Boyer and Vinaya Gunasekar talk about their favorite educational resources in every area of STEAM and how you can get involved too. Some of the resources are free, some are not, but either way, this is the perfect episode for you to learn about where to get your robots, which books to read, and so much more.

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This podcast is founded by The STEAM Connection and is not sponsored by any third party.

To celebrate both of our co-hosts November birthdays, we decided to record a casual episode where they talk about everything from new "birthday" resolutions, to dad jokes, to playing pranks on your siblings.

Meet Twenty, our new educational robot.

Join us in learning from 18-year-old environmental activist and public speaker, Diego Arreola Fernandez. Diego created his organization, Green Speaking, after learning about the devastating consequences of plastic pollution and excessive consumerism while at the 2019 Ocean Heroes Bootcamp. His campaign uses in-school engagement, social media, and motivational videos to encourage children, schools, and businesses in Mexico to fight plastic pollution. He also gives talks to everyone from five-year-old children to business leaders to help people figure out their own unique role in the fight against plastic pollution. Diego organized a conference to build on this effort which will happen in 2021.

In a country contending with serious gang-related violence, deep poverty, and pervasive social inequality, raising awareness about the environment is no small task. But the need for it is urgent. Diego’s next goal is to turn his campaign into an environmental organization with the mission of cultivating more environmental leaders prepared to raise their voices for the planet and inspire people towards a truly sustainable future.

You can learn more about Diego here, and you can follow along with this episode with an activity sheet here.

This month, we are celebrating Native American Heritage Month! Hear from our guest, Shawn Ray, an Indigenous Senior at the University of Oklahoma in Electrical Engineering. Shawn has done work for NASA, makes cool robots, and supports other Natives in STEAM. In this episode, we talk about his projects, language, culture, climate change, and so much more. Shawn is a guest that you do not want to miss!

Follow along with this episode at home at www.steamconnection.org/podcast.

Hear from just our founder and co-host this week, Danielle Boyer, about her STEAM journey, overcoming adversity, and how youth can and are changing the world. From being mistreated on her youth robotics team, to first teaching at age ten, to now changing the world with robots, you won't want to miss her journey. Follow along with this episode at home with an activity sheet at www.steamconnection.org/podcast.

Learn all about 3D printing and the impact that it has on our Earth with Rob Maldonado (@virtualflatcad), an engineering influencer on Instagram and avid 3D modeling expert. His work has garnered him thousands upon thousands of followers on Instagram, and he so kindly shared more about his work and its impact with us in our fifth episode of Hands-On Techie Talks!

In honor of International Day of the Girl on October 11th, we recorded a special episode with mentors and members of FIRST Robotics Competition Team the Goon Squad from Woodhaven, Michigan. Vinaya and Danielle interviewed Brandon Queen, Dr. Nicole Gayney, and Sabrina Phillips about their unique experiences with an event that they put on called the Goonettes Invitational to draw girls into robotics learning. Because of the pandemic, we couldn't attend this event in person this year. Instead, we decided to chat about our STEAM values virtually.

This week, hear from our co-host Danielle Boyer in a casual chat about plastics, their impact on our Earth, and what you can do about it in your everyday. Hear about the dangers of colored plastics, why recycled plastic is big business, how much plastic is in our environment, and small ways you can tackle this issue through changing your habits as a consumer. 

This week, our hosts are joined by Varun Sridhar. Varun Sridhar is a microbiology student at the University of Washington who researches in quorum sensing and works to introduce girls to the world of research. Learn from his experience with bacteria on how it is changing the world as we know it. Whether you like bacteria or not, learn about how it impacts our environment and is not as icky as it seems.

Follow along at home with our hands-on activity sheet at https://www.steamconnection.org/handson