NJM General Manager Steve Leduc is a mentor for ππππ‘ ππ¨π« ππ’ππ¬, an organization committed to fostering a vibrant robotics community for students while engaging parents and mentors.
Steve mentors a team that is local to his area in Montreal, Quebec. He is also a participant parent.
In addition to Steve mentoring the team, NJM is also one of the team’s sponsors.
When asked about his role with the team, Steve had this to say…
Why did I decide to mentor? I was impressed with the amazing level of energy and intensity of the students, their astonishing teamwork and drive, their surprising knowledge, and their phenomenal speed to innovate, create and find solutions.—-
This is very inspiring and this year NJM decided to further support the Tech for Kids team by partnering with PMMI and officially sponsoring the Tech for Kids team.—–
Every year is a new challenge and it is only revealed in mid January.Β It is literally a crazy race for the students to develop, build and optimize a robot in roughly 6 weeks before its first competition.Β From mid January up to the Championship in April, depending on my business travel, I typically spend my weekends with the students.Β The students continue the work after school during the week with other mentors and their wonderful, dedicated teachers.—-
Mentors typically help and support the students with their skill development — such as machining and drafting — up to highly technical aspectsΒ — such as programming, material, structure and complex mechanics.Β Mentors help with different phases of the development of the robots such as strategy, concept, prototyping, calculation, validation, testing, machining, building, testing, programming, and debugging. We also help with soft skills such as travel coordination, teamwork, leadership, and communication.