Santa Clara Math Circle has a new program for creative young minds in the city. The Young Inventor’s Workshop was initiated on Jan. 17, 2025—fittingly enough, the birthday of Benjamin Franklin, inventor of the lightning rod.
Arnav Ahuja, founder and president of Santa Clara Math Circle, said the workshop was initiated to foster young inventors in the region.
In collaboration with the Santa Clara City Library, five hands-on sessions combining STEM with applied mathematics were held so far. They are intended to inspire students to become builders and problem solvers.
“Each session is designed to spark creativity and show kids how math connects to real-world innovation, whether through simple engineering challenges or playful explorations of science,” explained Ahuja.
“We wanted to extend the joy and community energy of our Math Festivals into a hands-on series where kids don’t just solve regular math problems, but actually have the opportunity to build engineering solutions,” he went on.
“Partnering with the Santa Clara City Library, we designed grade-friendly builds that show how math powers real-world engineering, so children leave with both a working device and a new way they look at math,” Ahuja said.
“We nurture the problem solvers of tomorrow by engaging them in the full journey: learning, applying, and creating,” Ahuja continued. “Our goal is to show students that knowledge is not an end in itself, but a tool to build a better world.”
Similar to the Julia Robinson Math Festival, the Young Inventor’s Workshop is intended to make math fun and welcoming for all ages.
In contrast with the Math Festival, however, the Inventor’s Workshops aim to be more concrete, ending with children taking home what they created.
Students were able to contrive a variety of items during the workshop’s opening. Not only were they allowed to take their creations home, it left them with insight into the mechanics of the very items they use in their daily lives.
The workshops also aim to encourage children who have historically struggled with mathematics. It is much easier to learn something when one understands its purpose and value. One of the ways the workshop aims to encourage mathematical growth in children is by showing the connection between mathematics and technology.
“We start with tangible activities. Before any formulas, kids feel a motor spin, a rotor buzz, a helicopter descend, or a catapult launch. From there, we name the math they just used: symmetry for balance, rotations and angles, torque and leverage, frequency and waves, potential and kinetic energy,” Ahuja explained.
“Most importantly, the vibe is collaborative, not competitive. We normalize tinkering, iteration, and ‘try again’ as part of the process, which helps students replace anxiety with curiosity,” Ahuja continued.
The response among families was overwhelmingly positive.
“Kids love leaving with something they’ve built, and families tell us the conversations continue at home,” Ahuja said. “The most exciting difference is how, once students see the application of their education, their motivation to learn those concepts in math and physics undergoes a huge shift.”
According to Ahuja, it is important to show Silicon Valley youth that the very inventions they take for granted today, such as smartphones and computers, could not have come without mathematics.
“Fundamentally, all these inventions aren’t magic,” Ahuja said. “They’ve been designed over hundreds of iterations utilizing the very same mathematics kids learn in school.
“When students see that the devices they love are built from ideas they can learn, math stops feeling like a gatekeeper and starts feeling like a language for making things. That shift from ‘I have to do math’ to ‘I can use math to build’ is transformational,” he continued.
