2015 Lipscomb/Nissan BisonBot Robotics Camps
Lacey Klotz |
Lipscomb University’s BisonBot Robotics Camps, sponsored by Nissan North America Inc. through Lipscomb’s Raymond B. Jones College of Engineering, wrapped up the last of its six summer camps this past week.
In the ninth year of holding the highly popular BisonBot camps, Greg Nordstrom, Lipscomb professor of engineering and co-director of the BisonBot camps, emphasizes the importance of shaping the minds of future generations and embracing the opportunity to enhance the education of students who desire to learn and come to a camp, but may not necessarily have the means to do so.
“We, as an engineering college, see the trends of today’s technology and desire to help teach and inspire future engineers similar to how we teach and inspire our own university students,” Nordstrom said.
Since 2010, Nissan has donated approximately $263,720 to fund Lipscomb’s summer BisonBot Robotic Camps and the annual Music City BEST (Boosting Engineering, Science and Technology) competition. The partnership adds value and expertise to each camp as Nissan provides engineers to help teach during the six sessions.
“Nissan is committed to supporting educational programs such as the robotics camps and competitions, because they help launch a new generation of engineers, scientists and problem solvers,” said Vicki Smith, Nissan’s senior manager of corporate social responsibility. “We hope that students come away from these events with a set of skills that will set them up for success for any educational paths they may pursue.”
For the first year, Lipscomb and Nissan took their highly popular Fundamental BisonBot Robotics camp to the Martha O’Bryan Center, located in the Cayce Place Homes of East Nashville, a low-income public housing community, July 13-16. This camp was offered to nine disadvantaged students, free of charge.
“The opportunity to incorporate a robotics camp in a low-income neighborhood and in an environment like the Martha O’Bryan Center, gives these students access to the valuable STEM education which have proven to be highly effective among the students we serve each year,” Nordstrom said.
The Martha O’Bryan Center’s mission has a similar heartbeat to that of Lipscomb and Nissan. Founded on Christian principles, the Martha O’Bryan Center empowers children, youth and adults in poverty to transform their lives through work, education, employment and fellowship.
“Lipscomb’s Fundamental BisonBot Robotics Camp is going to open up a new world for our students,” said Marsha Edwards, CEO of the Martha O’Bryan Center. “This partnership enables our students to be exposed to new skills and interests. It is important for these students to have this opportunity, because as education evolves, our students need to be exposed to STEM concepts.”
On July 7, the Fundamental BisonBot Robotics Camp took a day trip to Fairview to visit the Scott Fetzer Electrical Group manufacturing facility to get up close and personal with their highly interactive automated robots. 
These robots work independently alongside human operators without guards or shield protection, an unusual method in today’s manufacturing industry.
The Advanced BisonBot campers also visited the Saint Thomas Hospital West robotic surgical suite to see and interact with the technology in action, on July 20.
"We partnered with Lipscomb University one year ago through my son's impressive experience at their BisonBot Camp,” said Dr. Benjamin Dehner, chief of urology at Saint Thomas West in Nashville.
“Through this amazing partnership we have hosted both their camp students, as well as university students at Saint Thomas West,” said Dehner. “Here they have seen a live surgery, had hands-on experience with our surgery equipment and experienced how advanced surgery has become. We have also had the distinct pleasure to be invited to their campus to meet their president, faculty and students and see where the future of engineering is heading. I am excited and amazed by the work of Lipscomb’s staff and students about how their knowledge and experiences can improve our patient's care. We look forward to great things to come.”
CLICK HERE to view a full photo gallery from the 2015 Lipscomb/Nissan BisonBot Robotics camps.