Tomorrow is Today

2015-07-08

by Julie Krebs, Fiona McCrae, & Maya Mojica Codecraft Lab Volunteers

The coders at the Codecraft Lab “Adventures in Programming with Scratch & Makey Makey”  summer camp had a pleasant surprise on Tuesday when Stephanie Galbo, a software engineer at Harris, joined us at the Lab for an interesting presentation about Job Automation. Stephanie graduated from UCF with a degree computer science and is extremely passionate about coding and computers. The kids were interested to learn about robots that are helping out in the workforce today, and technology that may yet improve job safety and efficiency tomorrow. A few of the young coders were surprised to find out that some technologies generally thought of as ridiculously futuristic, like robo-cops, are things that are already in prototype stages and Google even has self-driving cars that are seen on the streets of California. Just a few years ago, self-driving cars would have seemed unsafe and impossible, but now they are up and running, and are unbelievably good at navigating. This, campers learned, is only a small sample of how tech, that once seemed out of reach, is already existent in the world today, if only in the testing stages. What about other jobs that require automation? In today’s highly computerized world, almost any job you can think of now uses some sort of technology, either in the form of robots or computer programs. Lots of our young coders threw out ideas about ways that job automation has taken form. One of the students suggested a robot that works as a personal nurse for people who are bound to their beds because of disabilities, or a sickness, that can bring the patient what they need and never get sick or tired of helping. Other students thought of “Surgery Bots” that can help make surgery more precise and a safer option for at-risk patients. The concept of job automation to the kids was presented in a fun and digestible way, giving them insight into this expanding industry. If you missed this presentation, Codecraft Lab is hosting another tech-talk for middle and high school aged students in Brevard at the Lab on Friday, August 7th at 5PM. Anyone is welcome to stop by, listen, and join Stephanie in the discussion. Younger coders can take part in a Minecraft Users Group happening at the same time, with the aim of building soft skills like collaboration, team work, goal setting and creativity. After the event you can enjoy the downtown EGAD First Friday festivities themed DOG DAYS OF SUMMER. Dress Fido in his best costume and get ready for some crazy fun. EGAD is bringing back the designer dog water bar, featuring craft waters for every canine palate, featuring Oranga Tanga ⎋ in the band shell and a Fun Dog Contest. Bring the whole pack down for the fun. (6:30 pm) Beer and wine available. JR Rib Shack is coming back, too. We hope to see you in the Lab, and around EGAD.