Webinar Series - Learning About Robotics: Examples and Discussions for K–8 and Beyond

The fascinating field of robotics is a powerful tool for sparking young people’s interest in STEM careers. Both presenters—Rich Mahoney and Graham Ryland—were inspired to pursue careers in STEM at a young age and are now working on the next generation of robotics in Silicon Valley. This edWebinar will offer a short historical review of the field, links to free resources for teachers to draw on when introducing the subject of robotics, and provide real world stories and examples from the industry today that can be shared in the classroom to make the subject more relatable and authentic.

Elementary and early middle school are critical times, especially for girls, to spark a passion for STEM that will help sustain them through the rigor of a technical education. Viewers will walk away with unique ways to leverage the attention-grabbing power of robotics and ignite critical thinking towards engaging students. This recorded edWebinar will be of interest to elementary and middle school teachers.

About the Presenters:

Rich Mahoney is the CEO and founder of Seismic, a spin-off venture from SRI International, where he was the director of robotics for more than seven years. During his tenure at SRI, Rich led the transition of SRI Robotics technology into new ventures, including Abundant Robotics, Verb Surgical, Motobot, Redwood Robotics, Grabit, Robot Miner, and Seismic. Rich’s team also delivered cutting-edge robotics innovations to DARPA and other government and commercial customers for healthcare, security, and consumer applications. Rich was the founding president of Silicon Valley Robotics, and has more than 25 years of experience in research, development, and commercialization of robotics technology. He received his B.S. and M.S. from Drexel University in Philadelphia, and a Ph.D. in engineering from the University of Cambridge, England, while attending on a Fulbright Scholarship.

Graham Ryland is passionate about hands-on experiences that inspire young people to pursue careers in engineering and science. He is Senior Product Manager at Wonder Workshop and working to transform K-5 education by giving teachers the tools they need to reinforce core subjects with robotics and computational thinking in the classroom.