2019 Educational Outreach Report
SUNY Poly Commencement Ceremonies in Utica and Albany
With commencement ceremonies held at both SUNY Poly’s Albany and Utica campuses, the nearly 700 graduating students represented one of the largest classes in the institution’s history.
Admissions Student Visits
SUNY Poly’s Admissions department held several special events in 2019 that brought nearly 2,600 middle and high school students to the institution’s campuses. Open House events in the spring, summer, and fall brought more than 500 students to SUNY Poly’s two campuses. Through the Information Sessions held throughout the year, 100 students toured SUNY Poly. Admissions held two Accepted Student Day events in the spring, which brought more than 400 students to the Utica campus for meetings with faculty advisors as well as tours.
SUNY Poly Hosts K-12 FIRST Robotics Championships and Events
SUNY Polytechnic Institute’s Utica campus is the Affiliate Partner for the global FIRST youth robotics organization. The FIRST® @ SUNY Poly program impacts more than 3,000 youth, ages 6-18 throughout all of New York State and also has nationwide and global reach with teams participating from Taipei, China, and Turkey. FIRST® @ SUNY Poly hosts and runs 19 exciting K-12 youth robotics tournaments and numerous events annually at the Utica campus and all throughout NY State, including the following:
FIRST® LEGO® League Jr (FLL Jr)
200 youth in grades K-3 and around 100 coaches and mentors from 14 NY counties get involved in creating simple machine constructions and then share what they learned.
FIRST® LEGO® League (FLL)
500 youth in grades 4-8 with around 120 coaches and mentors from 14 NY counties compete with autonomous LEGO Mindstorms robots they design, build, and program, and they research a real-world engineering challenge. SUNY Poly students are heavily involved in running the various FIRST® @ SUNY Poly FIRST LEGO League tournaments, assisting teams, acting as judges during team interviews, or as referees during the robot competitions.
FIRST® Tech Challenge (FTC)
1,030 youth in grades 7-12 with more than 250 coaches from all counties within New York State (with the exception of NYC and Long Island) are challenged to design, build, and program a robot to accomplish various tasks with and against other robots. Teams custom design, build, and program remote controlled and autonomous metal robots. SUNY Poly students are heavily involved in running the FIRST® @ SUNY Poly FTC tournaments, assisting teams, acting as judges during team interviews, or as referees during the competition. In addition, 3 SUNY Poly students formed an FTC robotics team with a number of refugees via the Midtown Utica Community Center.
FIRST® Robotics Challenge (FRC)
A SUNY Poly Utica campus-based team, FRC Team 5030 The Second Mouse, consisting of 15+ youth in grades 9-12 with 6+ coaches/mentors design, build, and program large scale robots over only a six-week period. SUNY Poly alumni and current SUNY Poly students serve as mentors, in addition to Engineering and Computer Science professionals. A regional championship was held in early 2018, drawing thousands to SUNY Poly’s Utica campus. At least 35 SUNY Poly students were involved in preparing for, running, and volunteering at the 3-day competition which served nearly 1,000 students total.
SUNY Poly’s Annual ‘Pi Day’ Celebration to Feature Pi-Themed Activities and Pizza Pie for Glencliff Elementary School Students
In celebration of Pi Day, the unofficial holiday of SUNY Polytechnic Institute (known for one day a year as SUNY ‘PI’), 65 fourth grade students visited SUNY Poly’s Albany campus where volunteers taught concepts of Pi through activities that included building “Pi skyscrapers” and “circle airplanes.”
STEM Exploration Tech Showcase
Since 2001 the Tech Showcase has been an event full of exciting competitions, displays, and collaborations for hundreds of middle and high school students. They utilize technology and engineering to innovate and build skills. The event is organized in collaboration with the Mohawk Valley Technology and Engineering Education Association of K-12 teachers. SUNY Poly students are involved in planning and running the event, as well as being involved in mentoring K-12 students throughout the engagement.
To view additional SUNY Poly Educational Outreach initiative highlights, please click on the links below:
