Deloitte has announced new collaborations to continue to bring the company's Smart Factory Believers STEM education program to underserved middle and high school students.
Deloitte's Smart Factory @ Wichita, located on Wichita State University's Innovation Campus, is teaming with Amazon Web Services, Ballmer Group, Elenco Electronics, National Math and Science Initiative, Siemens and WSU.
The program provides curriculum, teacher training, and a state-of-the-art smart rover robotics kit that introduces students to hands-on STEM education. Wichita Public Schools are included in the more than 75 school districts nationwide that have received the smart rover kits and comprehensive curriculum.
The robotics kits are manufactured at Smart Factory @ Wichita, which is housed in a 60,000 square-foot building at WSU.
“One of the core principles of The Smart Factory is to make a positive impact in our local community – and as such, we collaborated with local Wichita schools to roll out the Believers program in 2022 as well as collaborated with Wichita State University students to continuously improve our Believers STEM kit," said Michael Gretczko, Smart Factory Believers program executive sponsor and principal at Deloitte Consulting LLP.
"Given Wichita’s rich history as a major manufacturing and technology hub," he said, "we are hopeful that the Believers program will continue to inspire the next generation of local talent and workforce while giving students in the community a glimpse into the career possibilities available within manufacturing.”
Since the program began last year, more than 2,250 smart rover kits have reached more than 10,000 students across the country. For the team at Wichita State, being able to create a product with purpose has been rewarding.
“This is really a win-win situation,” said Debbie Franklin, associate vice president of strategic initiatives at Wichita State. “WSU students receive valuable hands-on applied learning skills and experience making the STEM kits, and that in turn greatly enhances learning opportunities and provides new pathways to these middle schoolers who may not otherwise have access to robust STEM resources.”
