Designing a robotic racing car, she stood out in the ‘Building Bridges’ programme at the University of Rhodes Island

Sangeetha does not drive a racing car, but she just might help you drive one. This class IX student of Siva Swami Ayyar Girls Higher Secondary School recently designed a robotic racing car at the University of Rhodes Island, Kingston, United States. She is one of 20 students who took part in ‘Building Bridges’, a four-week cross-cultural and academic programme that introduces students to engineering and robotics.

Of the eight students selected from India, Sangeetha is the only one from the state representing a government-aided school. Robotics classes were the best part of the programme, she says, which allowed every team to design a car. Each of the participants was teamed with participants from the United States and Pakistan.

“For two days, our car did not move. Once we learnt coding and the technicalities involved in sensor technology, we stayed late into the night to finish designing the car,” she says.

Sangeetha plans to pursue a career in mechanical engineering and also design an autorickshaw for her father, an autorickshaw driver.

Although much of the expense for the trip was borne by the organisers, her parents spent around Rs. 7,000 towards the preparations she had to make for joining the programme. “She had to do a lot of reading, so we got her an Internet connection and some clothes for the journey. We borrowed money but that’s fine as she has made us proud,” say her parents S. Rajakumari and L. Subramani.

Sangeetha, a national level Silambam player, also stunned everyone with her Silambam performance at the meet.

The Mylapore school got an opportunity to send a student to the programme after it partnered for the ‘STEM Education’ programme, for which five schools from the city were selected.

“The entire class VIII was made to take a test to check one’s interest in science and technology. Twenty were short-listed and trained for almost a year in spoken English, leadership skills and science and maths,” says V. Prema, teacher in-charge of the project. Verizon Technologies and Institute of International Education sponsored the student.

Sangeetha is grateful to the secretary of the school Leela Narendran, headmistress Ruby Puthotta and other teachers who encouraged her.