The Institutes of Secondary Education (IES) Tías and La Orotava, from Lanzarote and Tenerife, respectively, won the prizes this Tuesday in the regional phase of the RetoTech program, which is organized by the Endesa Foundation with the collaboration of the Ministry of Education, Vocational Training, Physical Activity and Sports of the Government of the Canary Islands, which gives them access to the national final that will be held on June 18 in Madrid.
With the aim of promoting scientific and technological vocations in students, the Endesa Foundation and the area directed by Poli Suárez celebrated this morning at the IES Carrizal de Ingenio, in Gran Canaria, the fourth edition of this call, which brought together 700 students and teachers from 16 centers of the archipelago, who also received 3D printers and robotics kits for their participation.
An educational robotics project with a positive environmental impact, called Tiasoap and presented by the IES Tías, has given the first Secondary School prize to its students. It is a domestic machine designed to recycle used vegetable oil and transform it into soap, thus avoiding water pollution and promoting the circular economy.
The second Secondary School prize went to the team from the IES La Orotava for their work Nave Titán-Tortuga, a project that seeks to simulate, inspired by the shell of a turtle, an innovative solution to protect astronauts and their ships in extreme conditions.
The territorial director of the province of Las Palmas of the Ministry of Education, Vocational Training, Physical Activity and Sports of the Government of the Canary Islands, María del Mar Méndez, accompanied by the director of Institutional Relations of Endesa in the Canary Islands, José Manuel Valle, were in charge of presenting the awards to the teams at the host center.
In the words of María del Mar Méndez, RetoTech constitutes an experience that allows progress “in innovation and development, promoting entrepreneurship and interest in science.” The territorial director also thanked, on behalf of the Ministry of Education, the involvement of the Endesa Foundation and its interest in sharing this type of project with the youngest, of great interest “for their personal and academic development.”
For his part, José Manuel Valle, expressed his admiration for all the students and participating centers for their “creativity, dedication and passion for robotics, which are worthy of applause.” “You have impressed us with your projects, you are the future, and you are building it with great talent,” he said. In addition, he had a few words for the teachers, whom he thanked for their dedication, their time, their commitment and the enthusiasm they put into the projects presented. “You are an essential part of this project, of this journey, and your work is key so that the new generations can develop their full potential,” he concluded.
With this educational project, students, through the design and development of technological projects that respond to real needs of their school environment, promote their STEM talent (acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics).
RetoTech is developed throughout the school year in three stages. In the first, the participating schools receive kits with technological material and the teachers receive blended training, focused on each of the three blocks of the program, robotics, mobile application programming and 3D design and printing. The second stage, in which the project takes shape, consists of working in the classroom on the challenges posed directly with the students. And, finally, in the third, they prepare the final project and present it at the festival.
Tenth edition
In the tenth national edition of RetoTech, a total of more than 10,000 students and more than 800 teachers from 255 schools from the autonomous communities of Madrid, Extremadura, Andalusia, Aragon, Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands participate, in addition to thirty Portuguese educational centers, where it is held for the second consecutive year. Since the launch of this initiative in 2016, more than 60,000 students, from almost 1,200 centers, have improved their technological and STEM knowledge.
