Local High School Students Gain Hands-On Experience Through Robotics Tour

Learning about artificial intelligence for autonomous systems, including rovers, robotic arms, drones, and driverless cars was among a sampling of opportunities presented to high school students during a recent visit to The University of Texas at Austin campus. The students were hosted by The Center for Autonomy, a research center within the Oden Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences.

Upperclassmen in robotics and engineering programs at Del Valle High School explored technological innovations at the frontiers of academia and industry. The visit, on Feb. 25, 2025, featured tours of the Robotics Lab at Anna Hiss Gym and the Texas Advanced Computing Center's (TACC) Visualization Lab (VisLab), at the Oden Institute.

Graduate students from the Center for Autonomy guided the high-schoolers through the Robotics Lab, where they learned about robots that use machine learning-based object classification to navigate through chairs, tables, and humans, as well as scenarios for navigating the pitfalls of unknown terrain on Mars.

At the VisLab, students were introduced to the Center’s ongoing project on autonomous systems for space exploration and learned more about TACC’s super computing capabilities. The Vislab is home to Stallion, an impressive 28.5-by-8-foot, 600-megapixel tiled screen wall.

“I was both shocked and impressed. It was a very informative experience, and exciting to be here,” said Andres Castillo-Ayala, a junior at Del Valle currently enrolled in Principles of Engineering class. “There was a part in the tour where they let us control the robot; that was very interesting and amazing.”

“It’s inspirational – the experience provides exposure to university programs. It’s one thing to be told about and to hear about it, but to see it for yourself – it’s really powerful,” said Amyna Dosani, Career and Technical Education (CTE) counselor at Del Valle High School.

In an era of rapid technological advancements, students are being exposed to computer programming and robotics engineering earlier than ever. “Some of our students are so close in age to these graduate students that this could be them in a few years. This visit provides a tangible and attainable look at what is available to the students,” said Ryan Ragan, CTE coordinator.

The 31 students on the field trip are a subset of students enrolled in the programs at Del Valle. According to the Del Valle Independent School District’s CTE director, Adrian Gutierrez, Del Valle has between 400-500 students in the programming, engineering and robotics programs.

The tour supports the classes students like Andres are taking at Del Valle. “I’ve been able to create a lot of cool things in my class. The more I was learning how to figure out how to create things in the program through the computing tools reinforced my interest in engineering,” said Andres.

The partnership between the Center for Autonomy and Del Valle High School initially stemmed from a research grant in 2021. Since then, the Center’s commitment to outreach has only grown stronger.

“Over the past three years, our partnership with DVISD has grown to include a defined calendar of short courses, site visits, and internship opportunities,” said Ufuk Topcu, Director of the Center for Autonomy and professor of aerospace engineering & engineering mechanics.

“It's energizing to see high school juniors and seniors on campus learning more about future opportunities and envisioning themselves in research settings. We hope that these outreach events create meaningful experiences that support the identified needs of DVISD's unique student population and community.” Topcu is also a Core Faculty member at the Oden Institute.

During the academic year of 2024-2025, Center of Autonomy graduate students volunteered to teach elementary school children basic programming at CodeCity, an Austin Public Library series hosted by Krishna Kumar, assistant professor in civil, architecture, and environmental engineering and Core Faculty at the Oden Institute.

In addition, the Center for Autonomy is actively involved in encouraging workforce development in the State of Texas in STEM education through volunteer efforts at a variety of area STEM events such as STEM Girl Day at UT Austin, STEM MUSE mentoring, and Code2College.

The center’s active engagement in community outreach initiatives is a testament to the Oden Institute’s ongoing commitment to foster workforce development for future generations.