Three local girls’ schools have been selected to assemble and build robots fashioned after the Mars Rover to compete against bots from other schools across the country.
Herschel Girls’ School, St Cyprian’s and Rhenish Girls’ High School are among 30 high schools participating in a first-of-its-kind national challenge within a Introduction to Mechatronics (i2M) programme initiated by General Electric. Most of the schools selected to compete are girls' schools.
General Electric envisioned the project with the aim of educating hundreds of pupils across South Africa on robotics, and promoting skills development in Africa, said spokesperson Nthabiseng Jonas.
Jonas said gender diversity was a top priority when selecting schools with which to partner.
“As such, 88% of the schools selected are girls' (schools) because the importance of encouraging girls to develop an interest in Stem (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) from a young age cannot be overemphasised.
"This is because the number of women in Stem across the world is disproportionately low,” said Jonas.
She said women accounted for less than a third (28.4%) of those employed in the scientific research and development sectors across the world in 2013.
An i2M kit using advanced technology including 3D printing, designed by top mechanical, electronic and software engineers, has been provided to participants.
The task allows pupils to understand the fundamentals of constructing their own rover from the designing stage to the assembling of the unit.
Preliminary competition judging started on Saturday and continues until Thursday. The top 30 participants will be announced on Friday.
The overall winner will receive a 3D Makerbot printer as well as a 3D Makerbot printer for their school.