Pulling together local businesses, major tech companies and community organizations under one roof wasn’t an easy endeavor, but it was certainly appreciated by the community. Nearly 8,500 people turned out for Santa Clara’s first-ever STEM Zone at the city’s Convention Center on April 19.
Developed by Santa Clara employees, with special help from library staff who have previous experience organizing the city’s bi-annual Comic-Con event, the STEM Zone drew speakers such as American astronaut Sirisha Bandla and Disney droid creator Mike Senna.
The droids themselves were a major draw. 8-year-old Alexander could not get enough of them, specifically Chopper.
“He had an orange head, and he had a gray body, and he had gray legs that stopped,” said Alexander.
Alexander said he also liked the robotic dog.
“It gave me high fives, and it did lots of cool things, and it sit down,” he said.
Alongside some Comic-Con staples like the 501st Legion and Bay Area Droid Builders, the STEM Zone also welcomed major companies such as Tesla and Intel. Intel’s racecar driving module drew long lines of young kids eager to try their hands behind the wheel.
A large area was also set up for local robotics clubs, including the teams from Santa Clara and Wilcox high schools, both of which were hoping to entice the next generation of engineers.
“The whole point is that we want to teach kids about robotics, getting them exposed to the field, about STEM and things like that,” said Madhu Satishkumar, a junior at Wilcox. “Because at an early age, it’s always great to learn to see if they’re interested in engineering, and by getting them exposed, it helps them build the fundamentals for their future.”
“Especially with modern technology now, computers are getting so involved with daily life, like AI, it’s important for kids to learn hardware and software and how computers talk to machines and actually make machines move a robot,” said Wilson Chen, a Wilcox sophomore.
Local colleges were also well represented. San Jose State University’s robotics team had a booth. Santa Clara University had several booths, including one by SCU’s Women in Cybersecurity, which used the kids’ game of fishing to start conversations with kids about another type of phishing.
Da Vinci brought one of its surgical systems for attendees to try out. 11-year-old Aarika from Sunnyvale gave it a shot.
“It was hard to grip the things, and the plate kept moving. It’s fun, but it moves a lot,” said Aarika afterward.
“We were interested in this because they said this is how they use instruments in surgery,” said Aarika’s mom, Raz. “I was explaining to her that this was similar to what they have done for my knee, it’s not the same, but that’s why it was interesting for us to see how does that feel.”
Legos were another big attraction, with a giant display set up by Bay Lug (www.baylug.org).
Building on the Lego theme, 13-year-old Abigail from Santa Clara opened a vendor booth nearby, selling Lego minifigures and handcrafted goods.
“I’ve created a lot of crocheted scarves and stuffed animals and key chains, as well as I made earrings, and I sell Lego here too,” said Abigail.
