Students Gear Up for "Rover Ruckus" Robotics Challenge
For the past three months, nine teams from local high schools across Grand Cayman and Cayman Brac have been working to develop prototypes of their robots to compete in the first Minds Inspired MI robotics’ FIRST Technical Challenge, themed “Rover Ruckus.”
Aqua Lasers, Brac Bots Dominate Again at Underwater Robotics Challenge
The John Gray Aqua Lasers and Layman E. Scott Brac Bots will represent the Cayman Islands for the second time at the 2019 International SeaPerch Challenge in College Park, Maryland, 1-2 June.
Interschool Chess Tournament A Success
More than 120 students from 8 local schools participated in the inaugural Interschool Chess Tournament sponsored by Dart Minds Inspired. Hosted by Cayman International School, the competition was held on Wednesday, 27 February, at the Arts and Recreation Centre in Camana Bay.
The tournament, which featured round robin and championship rounds with divisions for primary, middle and high school students, lasted for approximately four hours.
Minds Inspired and CUC Encourage Students to Dream Big
In celebration of Engineering Week, Dart Minds Inspired and Caribbean Utilities Company (CUC) partnered to host a special screening of “Dream Big: Engineering Our World” for a select group of local high school students on Friday, 22 February.
Approximately 130 students from seven high schools across Grand Cayman gathered at the Camana Bay Cinema to watch the award-winning documentary feature and experience presentations from 10 engineers from both Dart and CUC.
Dart Education Programmes Manager Glenda McTaggart says the students were recommended to attend the event by their teachers as a result of their strong interest in engineering.
“I am delighted to see so many young people interested in STEM and, in particular, engineering,” she says. “This event was an incredible opportunity to connect interested students with local STEM leaders.”
Dart and CUC employees with backgrounds in mechanical, civil, electrical, geotechnical and biological and power engineering explained their educational backgrounds and career paths, took student questions, and highlighted the career opportunities in engineering.
Dart Executive Vice President of Development Planning & Asset Management Justin Howe says engineering presents exciting and rewarding career opportunities.
“An engineering degree is a very sought after and highly paid qualification, increasingly so in the connected world in which we live. It is the passport that opens opportunities throughout the world in careers that are interesting, challenging and well paid,” he says.
CUC President Richard Hew says that engineers shape the world we live in.
“Engineering is about making the world a better place and improving quality of life. CUC is anticipating that some of these students will become engineers in the future,” he says.
Their insights had a clear effect on the student audience and, when Mrs. McTaggart asked how many students felt empowered to pursue a career in engineering, the theatre was full of raised hands.
“We are proud to continue to emphasise STEM in the Cayman Islands, partner with like-minded organisations to promote STEM careers and host events that help young people engage with local innovators and leaders,” she says.
Minds Inspired Announces Interschool Chess Tournament
Dart Minds Inspired is proud to announce its sponsorship of the upcoming Interschool Chess Tournament, scheduled to be held on Wednesday, 27 February, at the Arts and Recreation Centre in Camana Bay.
Hosted by Cayman International School, the competition will feature round robin and championship rounds with divisions for primary, middle school and high school students.
FIRST Robotics Officially Launched in the Cayman Islands
Dart Minds Inspired has partnered with Aureum Re, Caribbean Utilities Company (CUC), Digicel, and Health City Cayman to bring FIRST robotics programmes to high school students in the Cayman Islands.
FIRST, which stands for ‘For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology’, is a US-based non-profit organisation that inspires young people to be leaders in science and technology.
Kraken the star attraction at STEM Carib Conference robotics session
It was standing-room only as the Cayman Islands Robotics team showed off their robot, Kraken, to STEM enthusiast attendees at the STEM Carib Conference hosted by the University College of the Cayman Islands (UCCI) and Harrisburg University. The breakout session showcased the team’s journey to the FIRST Global Challenge in Mexico City this past August.
Robotics team makes Cayman proud at FIRST Global Challenge 2018
Adrian Phillips-Hernaez, Ethan Cronier and Joe Allom-Perez, together known as the Cayman Islands’ first robotics team, have a lot to tell when they return to school next week after participating in the FIRST Global International Robotics Challenge on 16 - 18 August in Mexico City, Mexico. Accompanied by technical advisor Von Ryan Abrantes, physics teacher at St. Ignatius Catholic School and team manager, Glenda McTaggart, Dart Education Programmes manager the team represented Cayman amongst over 160 countries.
Cayman robotics team heads to Mexico City for Global Challenge
Dart Minds Inspired is proud to announce its sponsorship of the Cayman Islands Robotics team as it travels to Mexico City to participate in the FIRST Global Challenge, an Olympics modeled robotics event.
Dart's JA company donates profits to Mental Health Awareness
Dart’s Junior Achievement Company “Island Totes” completed its foray in to the world of business with the successful sale of 82 tote bags and a donation of CI$600 to the Alex Panton Foundation.
MI Academy sets sail with Cayman's future nautical engineers
Shipbuilding has always held deep intrinsic value for the Cayman Islands, once as a primary source of income and now, an emblem of our culture. Our maritime history is thoroughly documented in books, paintings, through oral tradition and even music.
Today, local teenagers are more likely to build virtual ships on their mobile devices than in real life, but a few fortunate students were able to design, build and sail their own crafts at the MI Academy Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering camp.
Cayman Compass: Cayman team preps for ‘robotic Olympics’
A team of students from Cayman will travel to Mexico City next month to take part in what is billed as the “robotic Olympics.”
Dart Minds Inspired puts Caymanian students to work
Twenty Caymanian students, the first wave of Dart’s 2018 Minds Inspired summer Work-X students, are off to a promising start and working in areas as diverse as Finance, Marketing, Business Innovations, Human Resources and IT.
“Work-X is competitive, we regularly receive more than 100 applications for 30 spots each summer” said Glenda McTaggart, Manager Education Programmes.
Grandmaster Hou Yifan victorious at chess challenge fundraiser
Renowned chess player Grandmaster Hou Yifan brought her rooks and bishops to the Kimpton Seafire Resort and Spa for the second Grandmaster Corporate Challenge fundraiser in support of the Chess in Schools programme.
Aqua Lasers Too and Brac Bots finish strong at International SeaPerch Challenge
Congratulations to the John Gray Aqua Lasers Too and Layman E. Scott Brac Bots for representing Cayman at this year’s International SeaPerch Challenge at the University of Massachusetts in Dartmouth.
How to make your summer work experience work for you
You swiped right. Submitted your application. There were emails exchanged, an interview and maybe even a walk around the office. They liked you. They swiped right. A match!
How do you make it more than just a summer fling?
Minds Inspired announces STEM teaching award
Dart's Minds Inspired programme has become well known for its support of academics focused on STEM — science, technology, engineering and mathematics — subjects.
Many Cayman Islands students have been recognised over the years for their achievements in various STEM-based initiatives. On May 25, Dart announced it would recognise another important element in its STEM initiative: the educators themselves. The Dart Minds Inspired Award for Excellence in Teaching STEM will launch with the start of the 2018/2019 academic year.
Camana Bay Times: Mi Academy Offers Marine Engineering and Naval Architecture Camp for Cayman's Students
In years past, becoming a teenager in the Cayman Islands meant one thing to a young male: he would go to sea. Today, time away at sea for male teenagers is most likely a short jaunt to Rum Point across the North Sound.
The success of last year’s Mi Academy Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering camp, which is an initiative of Dart’s Minds Inspired programme, shows that young males — and some females — are still interested in connecting to the sea in meaningful ways.
Cayman Compass: Telescopes focus on Cayman for astronomy conference
The late Dr. Bill Hrudey would have been proud to see Cayman’s first astronomy conference being held in his name next week.
Minds Inspired and Dart Scholar: A Story of Two Brands
Ken Dart’s strong belief in the power of education was influenced by his family who long believed in the transformative power of education - both for the individual and for society in general. Dart translated this belief in the power of education into exciting programmes, initiatives and work experience – Minds Inspired; and Cayman’s pre-eminent local scholarship programme, Dart Scholar.
STEM: Impacting and changing the future
STEM — science, technology, engineering and mathematics. These subjects are interwoven in everything today's students do and learn — and more importantly, they have a role to play in every industry and every career: from art — the impact of arts learning on the ability of the brain to remember, for example — to health, and the ability of an app to interpret data and determine whether breast tissue samples are benign or malignant.
2018 SeaPerch winners: local underwater robotics challenge sets tone for region
The John Gray Aqua Lasers Too and Layman E. Scott Brac Bots are representing the Cayman Islands at the International SeaPerch underwater robotics challenge in North Dartmouth, Massachusetts, U.S., this June.
Meet Glenda McTaggart, Minds Inspired's inspirational manager
Six years after launching the first Minds Inspired scholarship, Glenda McTaggart now manages a programme that includes 19 scholars, work experience for 40 summer students and a busy calendar of events based on science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM.
Minds Inspired Students Learn About Ethical Hacking from Kevin Mitnick
Minds Inspired hosted students from the Cayman International School, Cayman Prep and High School, Clifton Hunter High School, John Grey High School, St. Ignatius High School and the University College of the Cayman Islands for a small, invitation-only event, with special guest speaker Kevin Mitnick, once an FBI most-wanted hacker turned most-sought after computer security consultant. This opportunity was made available to Minds Inspired scholars and the students by the 2016 Cayman Alternative Investment Summit.
Minds Inspired Welcomes Summer Student Chelsea Nelson for Fourth Year
Dart welcomes back Chelsea Nelson for her fourth summer with the company. Chelsea returned to the team in March 2015 to complete the credit requirements of a university internship which counts as final credit to her degree. Chelsea is one of more than 30 work experience students Dart welcomes and invites back every year as a part of the Minds Inspired Work Experience programme.