Eleven teens visited MassRobotics following a program held at the New England Aquarium (NEA), ClimaTeens.

As shared on the NEA website: ClimaTeens come from different backgrounds but are united by a common interest in combating climate change. The teens are invited to be in the program based on their past participation in Aquarium programs. Each year, ClimaTeens begins the program by learning about various subjects related to climate change mitigation, such as climate science, community organizing, and how to talk about climate change. They then move on to developing and executing projects that bring climate change education to the community.

The ClimaTeens dived into conversations about BlueTech with Jay Lustig and Russ Graves from The MITRE Corporation. After a chat over pizza, teens were starting to share the connections they were making with BlueTech and how it would affect their climate change education projects. 

After a rich discussion with The MITRE Corporation and a brief introduction to MassRobotics on the 5th floor lounge, the teens headed to the STEM Lab to interact with robots. And that is when the energy level jumped from a 2 to a 10! In pairs of 2 to 3, students jumped into coding their robots, and it quickly escalated to a joyful game of passing large rolls of masking tape from one robot to another. Overall, everyone walked away with beaming smiles. 

The following day the MassRobotics STEM Team awoke to this email from Tiffani Macarelli, the Manager of the Youth Development Programs at NEA:

“I just want to say thank you for such an incredible event last night for our ClimaTeens! It was incredibly engaging, and they learned so much and had a blast. It certainly sparked lots of creativity and ideas for them because, on the car ride home, they were reflecting on why GPS doesn’t exist for the ocean and were brainstorming ways that people could put mapping satellites in the ocean the way they have them in space. You were all so incredibly kind to our teens and were a wealth of information for them as well. I can’t thank you enough!” 

Thank you to The MITRE Corporation, who provided new ways to think about BlueTech.

MITRE was established to advance national security in new ways and serve the public interest as an independent adviser. We continue to deliver on that promise every day, applying our systems-thinking approach to provide solutions that enhance our national security and way of life. Our mission-driven people come to work at MITRE to make a difference. We give them that opportunity by fostering a vibrant and diverse community of thought that drives a culture of innovation. Our non-profit status sets us apart. Motivated by impact, our people discover new possibilities, create unexpected opportunities, and lead as pioneers for the public good. Fast Company called us “the most important company you’ve never heard of.” But even if you don’t know our name, you have experienced our impact. In our 60+ years of catalyzing and sustaining change, we never lose sight of the human factor behind every complex system and innovative solution.