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Over the course of two Saturdays in August, George Mason University electrical and computer engineering Assistant Professor Ningshi Yao tested the idea that competition yields strong results. She designed two very different engineering challenges for local pre-college students, one sending student-built ground vehicles racing across a soccer field and the other taking to the skies.
"We want to develop a course or training program that's more hands-on and learning through hands-on projects," Yao said.
“Whether it’s on the ground or in the air, engineering isn't just about formulas on paper—it's about learning through iteration, embracing setbacks, and building things that work in the real world," Yao said. "These programs give young minds early exposure to authentic engineering challenges, empowering them to discover their passions, build resilience, and see themselves as the next generation of roboticists and innovators.”
The first event, the NEXT Competition on August 7, capped a seven-week summer experience for 16 high school students participating in George Mason's Aspiring Scientists Summer Internship Program (ASSIP). The students helped Yao pilot a new mechatronics curriculum developed through a three-year, $750,000 grant from the Office of Naval Research (ONR).
The curriculum uses a flipped-classroom model. Students learn concepts outside the lab through lectures and select online videos, then spend their time together applying those concepts. Lessons cover topics ranging from sensors and mechanical drive trains to projectile motion and radio communication. "The class time will be when they come into the lab and really build a ground vehicle," Yao said.
The culminating competition tests far more than whether the vehicles move. Teams face off for 90 minutes on a soccer field scattered with 200 tennis balls. Their robots must collect the balls and shoot them into designated buckets while also contending with opposing vehicles. Teams can even fire balls at competitors to temporarily knock them out of action. That forces students to consider offense, defense, communications, vehicle maintenance and strategy while responding to problems they couldn't predict beforehand.
"They need to quickly fix things," Yao said. "They also need to think about communication, because the range is easily more than 150 meters. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth may not be enough, so they need to learn radio communication."
The ASSIP students were more than participants. Because the ONR grant was awarded only in April, they served as the first test group for a curriculum ultimately intended to stand on its own.
"We're using the high school interns as a pilot to test this curriculum," Yao said. "Meanwhile, they can identify the research problems they want to work on."
Just one week later, Yao shifted from ground robots to flying ones. On Saturday, August 15, more than 100 students were at EagleBank Arena for the second annual Airborne Robotics Cup (ARCup), a competition Yao founded to engage middle and high school students in robotics and artificial intelligence.
Teams of students in grades 8 through 12 spent approximately two months designing, building, and programming lightweight robotic blimps before competing in a soccer-style game. The blimp platform introduces students to CAD, 3D printing, programming, aerodynamics, stability, buoyancy, and robotics while remaining safe enough to operate around competitors and spectators.
Reminiscent of the collegiate-level Defend the Republic competition, students use the lighter-than-air devices to play a game reminiscent of Harry Potter’s Quidditch. Students receive mentorship from members of Yao's robotics research team, and top performers may pursue research internships.
Yao's commitment to ARCup recently received another boost. Her new NSF CAREER Award includes support for continuing and expanding the competition as part of the educational component of her research.