Skills in Robotics Mean Unlimited Possibilities

One of my favorite events each year is the VEX Robotics World Championship, held this month in Louisville, Kentucky. Innovative students from across the country and globe (including many Project Lead The Way students) demonstrate their robotic creations and compete for top honors. As I look around the arena each year, I know that not all of these students will choose careers in robotics. These aren’t just future engineers, but also future journalists, diplomats, teachers, entrepreneurs, and countless other possibilities. No matter what future these students pursue, the skills they’re learning here and in the classroom will serve them for a lifetime.

If these students find themselves working with robotics, they’ll be in a high-growth, high-demand field that promises a rewarding and fulfilling future. They’ll be creating the technology that will make everyday life easier, safer, and more prosperous, and there will be no shortage of openings. Robots are already being used in fields such as health care, logistics, law enforcement, and manufacturing, and learning how to engineer, operate, and work alongside these machines will only become more critical. According to a 2015 poll of senior corporate executives by the National Robotics Education Foundation, 81 percent of respondents said robotics was the top area of job growth in the country.

But if they pursue a career in a different industry, the countless practices, weekends, and late-night hours they spent preparing for their VEX Robotics competitions will still prove invaluable. When students plan how to design and program their robots, they improve their critical and creative thinking skills. As they iterate and refine their robots, students learn persistence and problem solving skills. When they work with their teammates toward a greater goal, they learn how to effectively collaborate and communicate with others. And no matter what career a student pursues, these skills are invaluable. Our recent Transportable Skills Report proves just that, reporting these skills to be the most in-demand across industries.

It’s for this reason that all students should have access to a hands-on STEM curriculum that incorporates real-world problems. And it’s not just through robotics education or extracurricular programs that students can develop these skills — in-school STEM programs can and should be an opportunity to learn transportable skills. Every student should have the chance to learn these skills, and when they continue to be integral assets in the workforce, it’s our responsibility to provide those opportunities.

No matter what career a student pursues, the skills they’ve honed and put on display at the VEX World Championships will help them get there. While the future in STEM careers is bright, the skills learned here can be a vehicle for success in any career path. Each student here inspires my belief in our future — a future I see growing only brighter as more students experience STEM in a hands-on way.