Nemesis Engineering Day Goes Global!

Robbinsville High School’s FIRST Robotics Team 2590, Nemesis, was thrilled to support alumna Jolia Thadal as she partnered with the Center for Panamanian Women (CEMP) from February 7-12, 2019 as she ran a STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) seminar. CEMP is a non-governmental, non-profit organization which works for the empowerment of women and children in pursuit for a fairer society without violence.

The team sent the supplies, a bilingual instructional video, and the written guidelines necessary to create a Scribble Bot challenge for 50 children, enabling the children of CEMP to create a small robot which makes artistic designs using markers, a battery, a plastic cup, and a small motor. Each child was encouraged to innovate and create their own unique designs.

Many Nemesis team members first fell in love with engineering by playing with LEGOs. Through a collective effort with the Robbinsville community, Nemesis successfully coordinated a month long LEGO Drive in which over 160 pounds of gently used and new LEGOs were collected to provide the Panamanian children of CEMP the opportunity to creatively explore the wonders of engineering.

John Exner, a freshmen member on the team, expressed, “It was a privilege to be able to contribute to such a charitable cause. Thank you to those of the Robbinsville community, who graciously donated to our LEGO Drive. By the conclusion of it, our team was able to raise an outstanding 162.5 lbs of LEGOs! It is satisfying to know that all the hours we spent collecting and packaging the LEGOs was worth it. I hope the children in Panama find as much joy playing with the LEGOs as we once did and that it inspires them to pursue careers in STEM fields”.

To spread the STEM message locally, Nemesis runs Robotics Discovery and Engineering Day camps annually for elementary and middle school students. The team was grateful for the opportunity to expand internationally once again after last year’s House of Hope Project in Haiti. Discovery and Engineering Day campers loved playing with the Nano Hexbugs, mini robots given at the camps; this inspired Nemesis to send Hexbugs to fascinate the children of CEMP in Panama with the joy of robots.

Marie Thadal, who volunteered in Panama and participated at the STEM seminar, had this to say about the experience,“The project with the children was amazing. At first glance they were a bit shy and unsure of what this whole project was about. Within half an hour or so after they watched the video, the first scribble bot was running, then the next. You can’t imagine their smiles when they realized they built this little guy. All the helpers, myself Patricia Akiens PhD, Marylynn Halland Seceritariat General of the IFSCC led by Jolia were just as amazed as the children. Thank you so much to the entire team.”

Nemesis hopes that the STEM seminar inspired the children of Panama to become future engineers and innovators.  

Thank you to our proud sponsors Robbinsville High School, Navair, Picatinny Arsenal, Lockheed Martin, DoDStem, Bristol-Myers Squibb, CCL Label, Investors Foundation, Nordson, New York Society of Cosmetic Chemists, Johnson & Johnson, Robbinsville Education Association, Sharbell Development, RAS, Robbinsville Education Foundation, Princeton Sports and Family Medicine, EAG Laboratories, DesignTree, CCC, Gilbane, Triangle Copy, SkyLink Technology, Inc., Coldwell Banker, Church & Dwight, and the family and friends of Nemesis.