Meet Our Team
Since 2012, M.A.R.S. has worked endlessly to bring STEM to student of all ages.
Starting in ninth grade and continuing through the rest of high school, students of the M.A.R.S. Rovers work as a team to design, build, and program complex robots. Students gain skills, experiences, and knowledge that prepare them for future education and employment.
From the first spark of an idea to competition day, our students learn to navigate challenges, work as a crew, and engineer solutions. At M.A.R.S., every project is another opportunity to explore, innovate, and reach for the stars.
What is STEM or STEAM?
STEAM stands for Science Technology Engineering Arts and Math. These fields, specifically the arts and creativity, are lacking in our public schools. M.A.R.S. helps close that gap by allowing students to have opportunities to work hands on with tools and machines, while having experienced mentors guide them who work in those fields.
This video is a TEDx talk presented by our own Michael Gerstweiler and helps show not only what can be done to help with this, but also how M.A.R.S. has helped give students a leg up in the STEAM area.
In an age of technology and convenience our country is downright ignorant to the future need of engineers, technologists, thinkers and makers. Our education system has steered away from individual creative thinking and replaced it with guided theoretical abstracts. It’s time to get our hands dirty again when it comes to learning.
Michael Gerstweiler is an electrical and computer engineer by profession and a student mentor and technology advocate by choice. In his youth the path to his engineering profession was laid out thanks to some caring teachers and mentors. His goal is to return that favor for today’s youth.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx