Bloomberg mentors ignite interest in robotics and STEM

Like more than 3,650 Bloomberg employees, Zhiquan “ZQ” Yeo and Mark Walker are two engineers who signed up to be mentors as part of Bloomberg Startup, the company’s global education engagement program. They work with youth in New York City and London who are competing in the FIRST Robotics Competition, which pits teams of high school students from around the world against one another in robotics challenges. Bloomberg has sponsored FIRST, which stands for “For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology,” since 2004.

ZQ and Mark have gone above and beyond the call of duty by becoming not just mentors but official team coaches, a responsibility that has them coaching the teams through the entire season of the FIRST competition. Zhiquan serves as coach for the G-House Pirates #354 from George Westinghouse Career and Technical High School in Brooklyn, and Mark Walker coaches Petchy Robotics a team from London’s Petchey Academy. They provide expertise in programming, hardware, electrical, machining, fabrication, business plan development and fundraising

This year, 20 other Bloomberg engineers joined ZQ and Mark to volunteer as mentors for the FIRST competition, with an additional 200 employees serving as volunteers for the NYC Regional competition. We caught up with ZQ and Mark to talk about what drives them to volunteer, and what they’ve learned in their role as coaches.

How did you come to be involved in the FIRST Robotics Competition? Why is this program important to you?

ZQ: About a month after I had joined Bloomberg in 2011, there was a Best of Bloomberg volunteer “expo” of sorts and FIRST Robotics was one of the organizations exhibiting. I’ve always loved robots, and have built quite a fair number of them myself, so I thought “Hmm… I get to build robots? Great! Sign me up!” I was then matched up with George Westinghouse High School as a mentor and was immediately hooked. I’ve since gone from being “that software mentor from Bloomberg” to the coach of the team, and it has been an amazing experience getting to watch the students grow, both in terms of engineering knowledge, as well as people skills. It’s definitely inspiring to see that they are so invested in the team.

Mark: One of our senior managers spoke about the program in 2012. He was looking for volunteers to help mentor at the American School in London, an established robotics team. I enjoyed the experience, but felt these far more experienced students didn’t really need much help except in the most complex programming issues. The following year, I had the opportunity to mentor a new team at Petchey Academy, which was a much greater challenge.

Every year, I am always surprised by how enthusiastic the students become about the project. The year begins with them nervous and quiet regarding the program, but as we progress through the year, their confidence grows. Their passion for the project reaches a peak by the time of the competition, and combined with a trip to New York to compete, it becomes a life-changing experience for them. The students can sometimes be unrecognizable from September to March! I am inspired that the students can take such pride in their work.

ZQ, tell me about the G-House Pirates #354. What’s it like to coach a team from Brooklyn? What kinds of projects are you working on right now?

ZQ: The G-House Pirates are based out of George Westinghouse High School in downtown Brooklyn, and that was the original reason why I picked the team (it was an incredibly easy commute from work). FRC teams in New York City all have similar challenges to do with funding, space, Department of Education policies and of course, keeping students interested (they have way too many things going on). Thankfully, we have a large workspace in the school, and have a really good relationship with the administration, which allows us a lot more freedom than other teams. We also have amazing sponsors (like Bloomberg) which helps us build robots, sign up for competitions and organize outreach activities. We currently have 9-10 students “full-time” on the team, most of whom have been with the team since their freshman year. This has afforded me the “luxury” of doing less of the hands-on teaching for the new students!

We took part in a couple of off-season events in June and July, including the inaugural NYC FIRST Corporate Challenge, in which the team got to compete against a team of Bloomberg employees (me included) who built and operated a robot of their own design. We’re currently working on skills-building exercises, as well as preparing to receive new members in the fall.

Mark, tell us a bit about the Petchey Academy team. What’s it like to work with these kids? What kinds of projects are you working on right now?

Mark: Many teams that take part in FIRST run it as an ongoing school activity over several years through high school. Petchey Academy, however, only has students ages 16-18 participating in their last two years at school. This means that every year, I get a virtually new team to teach during the fall term, with a few members of the previous years team to help mentor. Because of the short time frame, it’s important to build a rapport with the students quickly, and impress upon them the task at hand. They realize the project is hard work, but the rewards at the end are worth it! We try to keep it fun while also moving the project along. Each fall, we build a basic robot the students are able to program and drive as a training exercise. This year, we have invested in a new drive train system we hope to build and test during the fall term.

How is the field of robotics different for kids today than it was when you were a teenager?

ZQ: It’s so much easier to get started with robotics now, from LEGO kits all the way up to pre-built, heavy duty robot chassis kits. The availability of incredibly powerful, yet easy to use, robot controllers and microprocessors (like the Raspberry Pi and Arduino) has also greatly raised the floor on what a “basic” robot can be capable of. When I first started mucking about with robotics in the late ‘90s, it was hard, with badly documented electronics, limited access to parts, and more importantly, knowledge. Definitely a lot of trial and error, with a very strong emphasis on error. These days, there are so many resources for how to build all kinds of robots, with detailed Bills of Material, assembly instructions, etc. It’s a lot more plug-and-play, but it still offers plenty of opportunities for the curious students to build complex systems.

Mark: I’m a lot older than the students I mentor. Robots were few and far between when I was a teenager in the ‘90s! Advances in materials, power storage, processing speed and manufacturing techniques means robots are far more powerful, smaller and stronger than were even considered in my youth. Because robots are becoming ever more prevalent in society, the skills needed to build and program them are a lot more important to learn nowadays.

How do you prepare these kids as they begin to consider their potential careers in robotics?

ZQ: The robot is a central part of the FIRST Robotics Competition, but more importantly, the act of building a robot helps build a team. Having the mechanical and software skills is important, but even more important are the interpersonal skills that the program teaches. The mentors try to bring the best-practices we have at work into the team workshop, including project management, teamwork, communication and organization. In fact, this past season, we had a huge whiteboard set up with tons of sticky notes to track the construction of the robot.

The hard deadline of “bag and tag day” also forces the students to rapidly reassess their progress regularly, and learn how to make hard decisions like sacrificing robot capability for more driving practice, or deciding on a less capable, but easier to manufacture, part of the robot.

Mark: We teach a lot of soft skills during this program, such as teamwork, project management, problem solving and communication skills. These are not always covered in normal academic learning, but are a key part of working in a robotics team. Because we have historically built a robot in just 6 weeks for the competition, it’s important for them to realize what they can achieve in a short space of time.

Can you give us a sense of how this kind of mentorship impacts the way a kid feels about their potential for a future in STEM?

ZQ: Through the years I’ve been with the team, I’ve seen students suddenly realize that they were “pretty good at this engineering thing” and decide to pursue STEM-related courses in college. Out of the current group of students that I have, more than three quarters of them are planning to pursue engineering or computer science degrees in college and a lot of them are also applying to some of the top engineering schools in the country. That is a win on the mentorship front, as the students have developed the confidence and self-awareness to know what they are most interested in, and to push themselves further. Being able to come by the Bloomberg offices is also an eye-opening experience for most of these students (especially the first-timers; the returning students just head straight for the pantry). They get to observe how a large company works and meet not just engineers, but the large number of incredibly talented people that work in the various departments.

Mark: We have had students refocusing their university degrees into STEM-related subjects thanks to their experience with the program. Students have moved into Computer Science and Electrical Engineering amongst others, thanks to their experience in FIRST. Also, by interacting with mentors from Bloomberg, they are able to ask questions about the work we do. Exposure to mentor’s experience can open avenues of employment choices the students may not have considered before. Students may not consider careers they don’t have knowledge of, so the more they can learn about us, the greater their options are.

How has volunteering with Bloomberg changed you?

ZQ: The whole point of volunteering is to give back to the community, and I’m really glad that I found the opportunity that allows me to use my skills to give back, and that is something that I really enjoy doing. Transitioning from just being the mentor who taught programming, to actually coaching the team and taking a larger interest in the mentoring aspect has definitely taught me to be more empathetic. Coaching the team has also helped me improve my skills at resource and project management, as well as taking a step back and analyzing the higher-level direction and organization of a team. These are skills that have also been incredibly helpful in my day job.

Mark: There’s nothing like organizing 20-odd 16-year olds to improve your management skills! Building a robot in six weeks also focuses you to make sure every resource you have is working to their full potential. Design and quality is also important as we don’t have time to rebuild from scratch, (measure twice cut once!). These are skills that I can take back to Bloomberg in my day job.

Aside from mentoring robotics teams, what role can Bloomberg engineers play in promoting STEM among global youth?

ZQ: We have so many STEM based Best of Bloomberg programs that there’s bound to be one that interests you! From teaching Python, to running career panels, there’s something for everyone to get involved with. Many engineers also help out with online coding communities, or do technical-based mentorship. That said, you should definitely take part in FIRST activities, no matter if it’s mentoring a team or volunteering at an event. The passion and energy that these students have is beyond words.

Mark: Our Corporate Philanthropy team runs lots of different programs to encourage STEM education. Also you could get involved in online communities supporting youth programming. But, and I might be biased, FIRST Robotics is still the best option!

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