King seniors Chiann Hamilton, Lauren Robinson and Diamond Sewell attended a robotics intervention at the MEZ (Michigan Engineering Zone) with Ford Motor Company executives to promote the usage of robotics in the city of Detroit.
“It was a good experience because it was nice to see another Black woman in STEM because you don’t see that a lot. It’s inspiring,” Hamilton said. “I feel like that's something that should be happening more, and I want to be the start of that.”
Ford President and CEO Carlene Bills works closely with the students at the MEZ to show their support.
“It was good,” said Sewell, a senior and the team’s captain. “The dynamic of it was they want us to help them with certain aspects. They want Black women to be in an internship with Ford Motor.”
Sewell helps Ford with more hands-on activities and want to show her perspective on the work they have been doing. With the help of robotics teacher Carrie Russell, King successfully has a robotics team [8352] that students can join to broaden their understanding of technology.
“Last year our students at King got what we call a swerve drive, which is a much more sophisticated robot,” Russell said. “Every year with the new technology we always try to buy it if we can afford it and utilize it so that we can keep up on what's happening.”
Technology changes so frequently over the years, and this is why Sewell, Robinson and Hamilton said they want to expand their understanding of their jobs. This makes them feel confident in having a future in robotics.
“Learning more about the jobs that they do and what I can do in the future forces me to learn more about what I do on the team and challenges me to teach others the information I learned,” Robinson said.
