MESSAGE FROM BOTSIQ EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Education is changing.  BotsIQ is here to help.

For the past 15 years, the Pittsburgh Chapter National Tooling & Machining Foundation has introduced manufacturing careers to high school students across southwestern Pennsylvania through its signature youth program, Southwestern Pennsylvania BotsIQ (BotsIQ). This combat robotics program has impacted nearly 10,000 high school students with exciting, hands-on STEM learning as they design, build, and compete with their 15-pound robotic creations, all the while building the technical knowledge and skills needed for rewarding advanced manufacturing and STEM career opportunities.

Students are provided an extra opportunity to increase their technical knowledge through BotsIQ’s advanced online curriculum in BotsIQ Academy. Launched in 2018, BotsIQ Academy utilizes online educational platforms such as Tooling U-SME, SolidProfessor, and Mastercam University, to deliver industry-based curriculum in topics such as basic measurement and math, blueprint reading, safety, and Computer-Aided Design.

Through BotsIQ’s Close the Loop program, students in Fayette and Westmoreland counties delve deeper into manufacturing career pathways through job shadowing, co-op, or internship opportunities with local companies.

BotsIQ has three overarching goals:

• To advance STEM education and provide resources to local high schools to develop hands-on technical learning;
• To link students with industry mentors and promote an understanding of manufacturing and STEM career pathways to high school students in the region;
• To promote an understanding of manufacturing and STEM career pathways to parents of high school students in the region.

BotsIQ holds a pivotal position as a workforce development program that attracts smart, capable students who love to build things and solve problems — exactly the type of people that will comprise the future manufacturing workforce.

Join us today!  For more information, email [email protected].

Sincerely,
Michel Conklin
Executive Director, BotsIQ

Donate to BotsIQ

All donations to BotsIQ go directly to supporting the program.

SWPA BotsIQ is a program of the 501(c)3 organization Pittsburgh Chapter National Tooling & Machining Foundation. All donations are tax-deductible.