The SUNY Academy of Model Aeronautics (SUNY AMA) Student Club and CNY Drones will host their 3rd Mini-Challenge for 30 middle school students from China on Saturday, July 20, in the SUNY Polytechnic Institute Wildcat Field House. The students, age 13 to 15, are part of a traveling STEM Camp through Bright Vision Education Group based in Shandong China. The challenge goal is to help students discover the basics of flying through a series of activity stations. Students rotate through simulators, hover-craft exercises and palm-sized indoor drones, competing to accumulate task mastery cards. This is the third time SUNY AMA and CNY Drones have teamed up to host the traveling program. According to SUNY AMA Club Advisor & CNY Drones Volunteer Coordinator, Bob Payne, “Our continued relationship with this camp will provide hundreds of Chinese students an opportunity to see what’s great about our campus, engineering students and local community volunteers.”

CNY Drones is a community-based organization providing drone-focused STEM programs. Interactive exhibits, flying sessions and workshops feed into their annual low-cost team competition for students age 12 and up. CNY Drones works regularly with their sister AMA club at SUNY to provide STEM outreach, often traveling throughout New York State. In addition to introductory programs, the groups work together to provide fast-paced indoor and outdoor MultiGP racing events and tech meets to grab student interest. SUNY Polytechnic Institute leads the way in promoting CNY Drones’ role in the regional education and employment pipeline. The next on-campus collaboration is Drone Info Day on September 28, 2019. The 4thannual event kicks-off the 2020 FARM-i-GEDDON Team Drone Challenge. Drone Info Day will be held on a Saturday evening, combining with the 3rd annual Neon Night Drone Race at Wildcat Field. For information on CNY Drones & SUNY AMA events visit https://www.cnydrones.org/  or email: CNYDrones@gmail.com.