A great event was held to promote STEM disciplines in collaboration with STMicroelectronics on October 5th, in Monza, Italy. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, summarizing the importance of inspiring the youngest generation to love techno-science disciplines despite their complexity. This is a great way to boost innovation, better our lives, and fight gender disparity.
Kids and adults of all ages came to visit the many demo areas proposed by STMicroelectronics, talk to the engineers, and participate in workshops dedicated to robotics and coding.
Under the coordination of Claudia Angelini, the ST Foundation Italy Country Manager, we hosted a booth featuring coding activities using Minecraft Education Edition. This well-known “serious game” is used in schools to engage both students and teachers through a Train-the-Trainer approach.
Coding refers to computer programming. In an educational context, it involves developing computational thinking—a set of skills that enables us to better understand complex issues, break them down into simpler problems, and find optimal solutions. Computational thinking allows us to represent and organize data, formulate problems, segment solutions, and identify the most effective ones. Additionally, it helps us to abstract and generalize strategies for solving similar problems.
During the demo, children and teenagers were challenged to build a house with available materials, playing in groups with up to four people and agreeing on roles and rules. And they had a lot of fun!
Among our many volunteers, Marco and Sara dedicated their day to supporting the event in Monza.
Marco, we were happy to have you as one of our volunteers during the day, what was your best moment? The children at the stand playing with Minecraft generally did not know each other and had different skill levels. What surprised me the most was the ease with which those who already had experience made themselves available to teach the others. Collaboration and sharing on a project are fundamental skills we aim to achieve with coding.
Sara, what did you like most of the day? I really enjoyed seeing ST and its Foundation together on this initiative, and I was delighted by the children’s smiles as they played and tackled tech challenges. I truly believe the Foundation is making a significant impact in bridging the digital divide and hope to see even more volunteers in the future!
“This initiative was an incredible experience. Seeing the enthusiasm and curiosity of both children and adults as they engaged with our STEM activities was truly inspiring. Our goal at ST Foundation is to make technology accessible and enjoyable, and events like this are a perfect example of how we can spark an interest in STEM disciplines. I am proud of our volunteers and the positive impact we are making in bridging the digital divide.”
Claudia Angelini,
ST Foundation Italy Country Manager