RoboTech: Learning in disguise

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Maui County Fair attendance totals

Paid attendance at the Maui County Fair on Saturday was "about 200" more than the 22,081 who attended Saturday during the 2007 fair.

Director Sherri Grimes said Sunday, "The weather is cool and everything seems to be running smoothly." She did not have attendance figures for Sunday or for the four-day run.

Last year, paid attendance was almost 58,000, and total attendance was over 80,000, counting workers and volunteers.

WAILUKU - The RoboTech Maui Expo received rave reviews in its debut at the 86th Maui County Fair.

Hundreds of people, including a group of about 200 for a Saturday robotics tournament, showed up to see the display of robotic exhibits set up in the Baldwin High School Gymnasium.

The crowds by Sunday afternoon had died down, but one of the event's coordinators had high hopes for a return to the 2009 fair. "It's been really good here," said Art Kimura, an award-winning educator who, along with his wife, Rene, has been involved in inspiring young children in the subject of science. "There's even a larger potential for next year."

Kimura was on Maui for his annual Future Flight summer camp when Fair Director Sherri Grimes, the parent of one of the camp participants, discussed the idea of bringing robotics to the Maui County Fair.

Kimura said the expo accomplished its goals of showcasing student achievement in science, particularly those involved in robotics, while also recognizing business partners who have been assisting in financing scholastic programs.

Four of the six statewide programs had displays at the expo - First Robotics, VEX Robotics, Botball and the First Lego League.

In addition, the University of Hawaii College of Engineering had a table to provide information about educational opportunities and future careers in science and engineering.

"I saw this as a museum of robotics," Grimes said Sunday afternoon while visiting the robotics exhibits.

Fair attendance numbers have been up every day since Thursday compared to last year, but Grimes said she couldn't be sure how much of a role in that the RoboTech event played. "People came specific for this, that we know," she said.

"It's not all about robotics," Kimura said about the new expo at the fair.

While the overarching goal of RoboTech Maui Expo was to draw students and parents into considering a future in science, technology, engineering and math, Kimura said he also wanted to show the importance of teamwork, problem solving and even overcoming disappointment.

"We experience a lot of things while developing robots," Kimura said.

Alexander Wong Jr., a state economic development specialist with a display table at the RoboTech Expo, promoted FIRST in Hawaii. For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology is a volunteer-driven organization founded in 1989 to inspire young people's interest and participation in science and technology. Two Maui high schools participated for the first time last spring in a FIRST in Hawaii competition that was endorsed and actively supported by Gov. Linda Lingle's administration.

"What you think you see are kids running robots," Wong said about RoboTech Maui. "What is actually happening is robots are building kids for a bigger and brighter future," he said.

Song K. Choi, the assistant dean for the University of Hawaii at Manoa College of Engineering, said he tries to attend as many events as possible that promote careers in the engineering field. In addition, he said, his college's presence at the events helps to "legitimize" the activity.

"All these fun and games have a purpose," Choi said.

As part of his display table, Choi had video showing experiments by Hawaii college students who work on underwater robotics. The UH College of Engineering has about 800 undergraduate students, about 200 in pre-engineering programs and another 200 seeking master's degrees.

He said many of his students have moved on to successful and high-paying jobs in Hawaii, including graduates whose first jobs after college offered salaries of at least $80,000 a year.

Liza Pierce, the mother of a 11-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl, said her children are interested in science and thus wanted to check out the RoboTech Expo. "For us as parents we like to see all the options available," Pierce said

Cassie Kepler brought her two sons, ages 6 and 8, to the robotics expo to expose them to possibilities. "Just seeing something like this can be on Maui is great. For a long time, it's been just Oahu and the Mainland."

Kepler said she believes there is a "huge" interest in the field of science on Maui. She and Pierce distributed fliers about a science-based program they're helping to create for summer 2009.

* Claudine San Nicolas can be reached at claudine@mauinews.com.