The Durban University of Technology (DUT) in collaboration with Lenovo Southern Africa has started offering a Coding and Robotics Training programme to 120 schoolgirls from 15 schools in the eThekwini area. The Robo Girl 2022 programme was launched at the DUT Ritson campus in Durban on Monday, 05 December 2022 and is set to end on Saturday, 10 December 2022.
The Department of Information Technology (IT) at DUT will train different teams on how to build and programme their own robots, which they will then showcase on Saturday morning, 10 December 2022 at the University. The winning teams will then be announced at the Robo Girl 2022 Gala Dinner and Awards Ceremony which will be held later in the evening at Gateway Hotel.
Speaking at the opening of the ceremony, Mr Yugen Naidoo, General Manager: Lenovo Southern Africa said: “With this programme we aim to play our part in helping to address the gender disparity when it comes to STEM, and let young girls and women see for themselves the possibilities of entering the IT space as a career and be empowered to enter the jobs of the future. We look forward to seeing the short-term and indeed longer-term positive results of our investment in Robo Girl 2022 and wish the Durban University of Technology and all the learners on the programme every success.”
Speaking to the girls, Naidoo said: “This week, we want to celebrate you and all the projects and outcomes that you bring to the table. I will be looking forward to all your work and I will be back later this week to see your inventions. Also attending the ceremony will be our Executive Director and General Manager for the META region, Shashank Sharma.”
The DUT Executive Dean: Faculty of Accounting and Informatics, Professor Oludayo Olugbara said: “The project is aimed at equipping young, and fervent students with the necessary skillset to programme robots and participate in future competitions in robotics. This will further stimulate the curiosity of school children towards Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), which is important education to enhance the critical thinking skills of students in facing industry 4.0. Moreover, STEM education allows students to improve critical thinking skills, apply knowledge in novel projects, enable them to analyse information and make conscious decisions when designing products.”
Giving the project overview, Mr Ebrahim Asmal, Senior Information Technology lecturer at DUT indicated that this is a pilot project, and they plan to learn from it and make it bigger and better. He revealed that DUT Information Technology students will be assigned to each team to mentor and provide guidance on the task at hand.
“Besides receiving Coding and Robotics training the girls will also be part of exciting projects assisting DUT and Lenovo to give back to the communities in eThekwini. On Wednesday, Lenovo will be giving grocery hampers to organisations in eThekwini. Lastly on Friday, trees will be planted at Sastri College and Durban Girls Secondary to inspire the girls to also take good care of their environment,” added Mr Asmal.
Pictured: Mr Ebrahim Asmal, Senior Information Technology lecturer at DUT with Mr Yugen Naidoo, General Manager: Lenovo Southern Africaat the opening of the Robo Girl 2022.
The 15 participating schools are: Durban Girls Secondary, Sastri College, Woodview Secondary School, JG Zuma High School, Al Falaah College, Centenary Secondary, Westville Girls High, Brettonwood High School, Lakehaven Secondary School, Phambili High School, Park Hill Secondary School, Sithengile Secondary, Verulam Islamia, Havenpark Secondary and St Monicas High School.
For more information or interviews, please kindly contact Mr Ebrahim Asmal, DUT IT Senior Lecturer on 084 478 6732.
Pictured: DUT and Lenovo staff with the 120 girls participating in the Robo Girl 2022.
Simangele Zuma/Siphokazi Dlamini
