Thief River Falls, MINN. (July 2, 2010) – Twenty-two 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students from throughout Minnesota and North Dakota attended the ROBO Storm Camp at Northland Community & Technical College on Wednesday and Thursday, June 23 and 24. Participants of ROBO Storm Camp enjoyed learning how to assemble robots, work with the various sensors, and use computer programming skills to enable the robots to function and perform specific tasks. Two more camps are still to be held in East Grand Forks and Roseau later this summer.

Andrew Dahlen, Automated Systems Instructor at Northland, and a Camp Director, said the kids did a phenomenal job. “This camp allows young people to become engaged in the learning process while having fun.” Dahlen believes that in the future, math and science skills will become more important. “The careers and jobs that will be available to these students will build on the skills they used these past two days at the camp.” Joel Ziegler, Northland Welding Instructor, is impressed by the students’ eagerness to work together to solve problems.

In addition to building, programming, and competing with Lego Mindstorm Robots, the students also toured Arctic Cat to see their automated equipment and learn more about their highly specialized careers.

Andrew Dahlen and Joel Ziegler, faculty members at Northland Community & Technical College facilitated the camp and engaged students in the robotics projects. Kirsten Michalke, Director of Workforce Development at Northland Community & Technical said, “This camp provides a unique opportunity for colleges, businesses, and schools to offer unique opportunities to youth in northwest Minnesota. It engages middle school students and promotes science, technology, engineering, and math education and careers. The camp continues to grow in popularity each year.”

Sponsors of the event included Northland Community and Technology College, Bemidji State University, and nine community and technical colleges teamed together as part of a Center of Excellence in Manufacturing and Applied Engineering, also known as 360°. The goal of 360° is to provide new educational routes for students to pursue while bringing industry and education together to help us stay competitive on a global scale. For more information about 360 degrees and technical education, log on to www.360mn.org.