Sixteen-year-old Melody Buca, a student at Hathaway Brown in Shaker Heights, has been programming robots since she was eight. That's half her life, which is pretty impressive. Melody's experience and comfort level with technology are assets she brings to the Hathaway Brown Unicorns 2239 team, participating in the FIRST Buckeye Regional Robotics Competition March 26-28 at Cleveland State University.
"Melody definitely enjoys competition. But she also enjoys programming. This is a bigger robot using a language she isn't used to, so she will have to learn. It's a good challenge. And she enjoys working with her teammates and having her mom and dad part of this," said Peter Buca, Melody's father and vice president, technology and innovation, Fluid Connectors Group, for Parker Hannifin Corp.
Buca and his wife, Diane Sadowski, are volunteer mentors who guide and encourage students through activities coordinated by FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), a non-profit worldwide organization.
Buca is, of course, interested in this year's robotics competition because of his daughter's involvement. But his commitment goes back many years when he mentored a team from his alma mater, James Ford Rhodes High School in Cleveland. Equally important is Buca's commitment to seeing STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education, with its vital connection to FIRST, prosper in the United States.
"The idea of STEM education is a big deal for America's history and future," said Buca. "We want our talents to focus on the things that will change and improve us. The business world has a big frustration with kids who only want to get into things that are just popular as opposed to being useful. I never believed the United States was lagging in terms of quality students. But it's the quantity of students that we need in engineering and technology."
Buca said it is one thing to have students read about engineering or listen to lectures on the subject, but something else when they experience it for themselves.
"What I see from kids who go through this competition is a fire in their eyes when they realize that engineering, creating and taking on tough challenges is the most fun you can ever have," said Buca. "And it's a light that doesn't go out. The kids are changed forever. If you look at the (freshmen) classes of colleges, 10 percent of kids pursing a STEM education have been exposed to FIRST. That's hundreds of thousands of kids across the world. It has quite an impact."
That fire is also what fuels companies like Parker Hannifin and others today and tomorrow. According to the Occupational Outlook Quarterly, the jobs of the future are STEM jobs. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that employment in occupations related to STEM is projected to grow more than 9 million between 2012 and 2022 - faster than average for all occupations. Wages in these occupations are also generally higher than the medium for all occupations.
"It's not just me. There are others with Parker Hannifin and other companies who participate in FIRST," said Buca, adding that American businesses can't compete without a workforce skilled in STEM. "One of the things that kids learn during the robotics competition is to help the competition, which may seem like a crazy thing. But people do it all the time in life. Your competitors are part of the system and we all gain."