South Ural State University opened a technology park for children named Quantorium. Quantorium offers modern technology and unique educational programmes (quantums) for pupils who are interested in studying engineering. The programmes are free.
To bring good luck, a cat was the first one to enter the technology park during the official opening. Pupils from the Engineering Centre designed the robotic cat within several days; they programmed it to walk, sit, and meow. The cat was then demonstrated to the Governor Boris Dubrovsky,
In the Aero Quantum division, pupils will learn how to design drones and fly unmanned aerial vehicles. A team of pupils is now working on a project offered by Chelyabinsk Regional Office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
“The children are designing a multicopter for the Ministry of Internal Affairs that can improve the signal strength in the field,” says Pavel Faraphontov, a lecturer at Quantorium. “When in the forest, the signals become weak. The children are testing the developed eight-rotor copter that will be able to improve the radio signal while in the air.”
Two pupils from Chelyabinsk High School №1 Gleb Prislopsky and Gleb Salashenko, who became winners of unmanned aircraft flight contests, shared their views at Quantorium.
“We design drones for contests and programme them so that they can fly autonomously and land in the set destination. It is important to design and programme them flawlessly,” – the two Glebs noted.
In the Auto Quantum division, children will learn about racecar engineering. Klim Grishin, the winner of the world aeromodelling competition, is used to working with a soldering iron. Together with the Governor Boris Dubrovsky, Klim calculated the number of laps for a car model at a given speed.
“Quantorium offers project learning for students. They have to solve real case studies and decide on the best solutions to the given problems,” argues Vladislav Khalamov, Director of the Chelyabinsk Oblast Engineering Centre for Children.
According to Alexander Shestakov, Rector of South Ural State University, Quantorium will enable students to develop the necessary STEM skills at an early age.
The interior of the technology park was designed in collaboration with psychologists to positively affect the young scientists. Quantorium can accommodate 800 children and is planned to welcome pupils from different schools.
Source: South Ural State University