What started as a way to share time with his grandson, turned into the beginning of Hudson’s youngest First Robotics team.
Last week, seven elementary-aged students gathered for their first meeting at the Sensory Center in Hudson to begin exploring the challenges of this year’s FIRST Robotics challenge.
Ali Rafieymehr, Founder and CEO of Saman Technology Solutions, has served in both the computer industry and academia for many years. Heading into retirement, he has decided to give back some of the knowledge he’s acquired over the years by teaching local youngsters about the joy of technology.
Rafieymehr has also served as judge for a number of years for the Granite State FIRST Robotics Competition.
When Rafieymehr’s nearly eight-year-old grandson became interested in robotics, he started teaching him how to program an Ozobot robot.
Following that, Ali started offering classes on programming to a small group of elementary school aged students at the Rodgers Memorial Library, free of charge.
Those beginnings have evolved into a new FIRST LEGO League – Explore Team, currently consisting of seven students.
On Thursday, Aug. 29, the group had their first meeting where Ali explained what would be entailed in the FIRST LEGO League program and what the competition would be like.
Starting the club is not without some challenges, he found that out pretty quickly, but wanted the club to remain free of charge.
Hoping to use space in the local library for meetings, he found that meeting more than once a month there wouldn’t be possible. He also looked into using a classroom after school at Nottingham West Elementary School, but that wasn’t possible either, so he is currently renting a room at the Sensory Center.
This year’s FIRST LEGO League’s challenge is called “Submerged” and will get the team to come up with ways to help the ocean.
The team name began as the “Nottingham Warriors” since many of the students went to school there, but has since evolved into the “New Techies for the Future.”
Last week, the “Explore Team” read some of the materials provided in the packet Rafieymehr purchased and were assigned roles on the team. Each member was given a job and the team will be working toward completing the 13 sessions necessary to participate in the November Explore Exhibitions.
