On a refreshing October morning, Fulbright campus was aglow with the middle-schoolers who came to attend the Zero2Maker Workshop. By learning to design and create their own smart toys, the students discovered the joy of science, thus, taking their first steps to become future leaders.
With the guidance of Dr. Rajesh Nair (Former professor at the Asian Business School of MIT-Sloan in Kuala Lumpur) and Dr. Kien Truong (Chair of Engineering at Fulbright) and fellow Fulbright students teaching assistants, the middle-schoolers had a fun time learning design and technology, enjoyed creating, making, and presenting their product development projects.
The one-day workshop was packed with exciting activities to help students learn about ideation, creativity, technology, practice their presentation skills, and build their self-efficacy. These youngsters got to experiment with heavily utilized advanced tools like 3D printer and microcontrollers. By the end of the day, students from different schools teamed up together to workshop smart toys for pets that interact automatically through sensors, motors, sounds, and displays, etc.
All the while, the middle-schoolers got to freely explore and expand their curiosity at Fulbright’s Makerspace – a special space for undergraduate students to study engineering-related subjects. The “little apprentices” soon got acquainted with the space and got their hands on the modern machinery and equipment imported from abroad.
When first arrived in the morning, there were some hesitations and unfamiliarity with STEM among the students, fearing that engineering would be beyond their reach. Not until lunch break did they get out of their shells, befriending each other and happily exchanging ideas for their final projects.
Throughout the whole day, Makerspace was filled with lively discussions, loads of questions, tons of ideas, and countless laughter. Though STEM was the focus of the workshop, the students were also very creative when it came to “dressing up” their projects as well as very confident in teamwork and presentations, showcasing their own talents and mischievous personalities.
The day could not have been complete without the enthusiastic participation of students from Lawrence S. Ting, Vinschool, Trần Đại Nghĩa Highschool for the Gifted, ATY, Nguyễn Du, Thực hành Sài Gòn, EMASI, CIS – some of the top middle schools in HCMC. The Fulbright community could not wait to see how these students continue nurturing their curiosity and creativity, and one day become the future leaders in their fields!
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