It is no surprise that we are hearing more advocacy for STEM education funding. STEM equipment can be expensive, but the economic benefits are sizable.

STEM has grown into a central piece of our economic development in Indiana. While the state has taken major steps towards funding this growth, much work needs to be done in the allocation of these funds.

In robotics competitions such as VEX Robotics and First Robotics, schools receive high levels of funding to pay for robots that can cost upwards of $3,000 per team. While there is certainly not an abundance of funding, Indiana competes on the level of California, Texas, and New York while being significantly smaller and having less local corporate sponsors for these teams.

In higher education, funding has been put towards degree programs and vocational centers to provide training that is directly applicable to industry. These programs create skilled technical labor for Indiana businesses, which is in high demand, and provide high-paying jobs despite extraordinarily low education costs.

So, what’s the issue?

The first problem is a lack of teachers in secondary education. The average competitive robotics schedule requires up to 25 hours of extra work for an educator. Most robotics coaches teach normal schedules on top of that and are not paid to run their robotics clubs. As a result, robotics programs often enter periods of chaos as they struggle to find coaches and keep the club alive without compromising the skill necessary for kids to compete.

The second issue lies in post-secondary education and is an especially big deal in Indiana’s approach. Of course, Indiana has taken a manufacturing-focused approach which fits with our vision of “The State That Works.”

However, as Kim Wright, the director of the Vincennes University Center for Applied Robotics and Automation (CARA) puts it, “we need to inform the general public on what kind of excellent jobs there are in advanced manufacturing such as a Robotics Technician, Automation Specialist, or Systems Integrator. These are highly skilled, highly sought-after positions; however, they are often not as well-known to young people just starting their careers. Part of CARA's mission is to help increase awareness and train people for these high-skill jobs in robotics and automation.”

Even when there are enough teachers and enough equipment, there are not enough people who know about and/or are incentivized to pursue these technically skilled jobs. Scholarships, media attention, and secondary school coordination are all necessary to remedy this knowledge gap. Without this support, the demand from businesses for technical labor remains high, and funding for robotics programs is liable to dry up.

Indiana has the infrastructure for serious economic development and high-paying jobs. If we aim our funding at getting more kids into these programs, and keeping our skilled educators in education, we can develop Indiana into a powerhouse of manufacturing and industry.

About the Author:

Jathan Pai is a graduating high school senior with more than eight years of first-hand experience in robotics education. Alongside his immersion in the educational side of Indiana robotics, Pai has worked in the industry as an intern for two summers with Telamon Robotics. Between these roles, Pai has seen every angle: working with coaches and administrators, teaching students, advocating for robotics funding in the statehouse, and winning robotics competitions.