Y.W. Foundation Promotes AI and STEAM Education, Enabling Rural Children to Engage with Robotics

The Y.W. Foundation is actively working to bridge the digital divide by promoting Artificial Intelligence (AI) and STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) education, with a special focus on students in rural and less-resourced areas. In collaboration with the UMC Group, the foundation is providing high school students with opportunities for hands-on robotics experience. This initiative extends beyond major urban centers, specifically inviting students from "non-urban, non-city" schools across the country to engage with technology.

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FRC is not just a robotics competition; it is a learning platform that allows children to understand technology and cultivate problem-solving abilities through practice.

The program aims to demystify technology by allowing children to observe robots up close and operate them themselves. This approach is designed to make learning about AI, engineering, and programming more accessible. The foundation views the "2026 Taipei-New Taipei AiFRC National High School Playoff" and the associated "TechGlow Cross-Disciplinary Technology Event" as crucial platforms for this educational outreach. By transforming robotics competitions into learning experiences, students gain exposure to engineering principles, programming, and interdisciplinary applications.

Miao Huabin, executive director of the Y.W. Foundation, emphasized that the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) serves as more than just a contest; it's a learning platform where students develop technological understanding and problem-solving skills through practical application. Extending this opportunity to elementary and middle school students is a key objective, lowering the initial hurdles to engaging with technology. The foundation observes that robotics education cultivates more than just coding and mechanical skills. The process of high school teams building robots requires integrating cross-cultural communication, presentation skills, visual design, fundraising, and self-media management, thereby fostering essential collaborative, communication, and problem-solving abilities for the future.

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We especially extend learning opportunities to elementary and middle school students, hoping to lower the threshold for children to access technology, so that technology is no longer just knowledge in textbooks.

The foundation's commitment to science popularization and nurturing next-generation talent is long-standing. In July, they established Taiwan's first "Women in AI Lab" at Taipei First Girls High School. Moving forward, the Y.W. Foundation plans to continue connecting industry and educational resources, aiming to foster technological literacy, educational equity, and interdisciplinary talent development. Their goal is to increase opportunities for young people to engage with technology and practical learning, cultivating a new generation with cross-disciplinary capabilities, sustainable thinking, and international competitiveness.

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Robotics education cultivates not only programming and mechanical operation skills. The process of high school students building robots requires the integration of cross-cultural communication, presentation proposals, visual design, fundraising, and self-media operations.