Dr. Petros “Pete” Gheresus, Industrial Engineering faculty member at Kettering University, recently hosted 82 public educators from 31 elementary and middle schools in the Flint and Genesee County area for a LEGO Robot Assembly and Programming Workshop. More than 100 students from the same schools have also attended this workshop in past years.

“The ultimate goal of this program is to equip teachers and mentors with hands-on and project- based activities that apply basic mathematics, engineering, programming, and technology knowledge to solve problems using a LEGO robot,” Gheresus said. “This knowledge can be shared with the students by incorporating LEGO robot-based activities into their curriculum or by forming an after-school LEGO robotics team to explore these ideas.”

Additional benefits conferred to participants by this workshop include: hands-on experience with building and programming, problem-solving, teamwork and collaboration.

“Well-equipped teachers can impact many students because they are stable base of knowledge,” Gheresus said. “We should do everything in our power to help our  K-12 teachers to produce the next generation of brilliant young minds.”

Dr. Pete Gheresus during a teacher workshop.

In addition to giving back to Flint, Gheresus has also contributed to educational efforts at the Eritrean Institute of Technology (EIT) in Eritrea, Africa by volunteering and donating thousands of books to their growing library.

Gheresus’ grew up in an impoverished community in Eritrea and has kept his own journey at the forefront of his pursuits as it serves as motivation to help those in need in Flint and the surrounding community.

“I am grateful that Kettering University continues to enable me pursue my passion helping others through the vision of ‘Community Vitality,’” said Gheresus, during a lecture in Flint in 2015. “Education will equip you with knowledge and information and that’s the best asset one can possess.”