Author: angelawiz

A year ago, we wrote about 5 Unique Jobs in STEM You Didn’t Know Existed. Fast forward to 2023, we now have an updated list of super interesting careers that will make you excited about having a future in STEAM!

STEM is short for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. If you mix in “Art”, it becomes STEAM.

In the past, STEM fields have suffered from stereotypes partly influenced by media portrayals. According to a study conducted in 2018, negative stereotypes surrounding STEM have actually deterred women from pursuing STEM and being motivated to pursue these fields.

Our goal at Wiz Robotics is to inspire future engineers, entrepreneurs & innovators. It’s time to change the how STEM careers have been perceived and motivate the future generation to think differently about the vast number of possibilities that STEM could bring.

Having said that, we are very excited to share with you our updated list of Top 5 Cool STEAM Careers to Consider in 2023!

Pastry Chef

Have you wondered why chocolate needs to be tempered before reaching the most optimal state for eating and baking? Or why adding different ingredients can result in different cake textures?

It’s all science!

Baking is part science, part math, and part art. Pastry chef is the perfect demonstration of a STEAM career that combines STEM, creativity, and art. Getting the most optimal combination of texture, taste, and presentation is not as easy as it seems.

In order to become a pastry chef, you would need formal training through an accredited facility. Some hiring managers might even prefer a bachelor’s degree.

If you are as passionate about pastries (or eating them) as I am, this is a fun and unique career to consider!

Game Physics Programmer

What if I told you that you CAN have fun by studying physics?

A Physics Programmer apply math and physics to the art of game design. They are the ones whose code could enable you to experience shockwaves of an explosion in the game or a car crashing through the waves as if you were physically there in the virtual world.

Physics programmers requires a high level knowledge of physics and programming. They also should have a sense of gameplay and know how to blend in realism in games with fun components.

Being a physics programmer will make your dream of playing games for work become a reality.

Underwater Archaeologist

What does Titanic, Treasure Island, and Life of Pi share in common? — Shipwrecks!

Underwater or Marine archaeology is a field of archaeology practiced underwater. According to the National Marine Protected Areas,

Underwater Archaeology is the systematic documentation and recovery of information from submerged artifacts and underwater sites for the interpretation of past human cultures. Artifacts and sites, the locations of past human activity, possess information about human behavior in both the nature of the objects and in their exact distribution on or under the seafloor.

In simple words — shipwrecks and lost treasures!

Underwater archaeologists will get to dive deep into the ocean to discover the secrets of the ocean depths and search for shipwrecks and lost civilizations.

There are only around 15 universities worldwide that offer a degree in marine or underwater archeology. Diving training is also a must. Most professionals have a master’s or doctorate in this field.

Medical Illustrator

“I love science but I also love art. Is there a job where I can do both at the same time?” YES — Medical illustrator is the answer.

A medical illustrator combines their expert knowledge of health sciences and artistic ability to explain medical principles and theories to the public. Their work may appear in textbooks and scientific journals, including educational materials such as brochures or booklets, video tutorials, and in-person exhibitions.

There are no undergraduate programs in medical illustrations. Professional medical illustrators often earn a master’s degree in medical illustration from an accredited graduate institution. Admission requirements general involve a bachelor’s degree with a major in art and a minor in the biological sciences, or a major in science with a minor in art, is preferred. On top of that, a portfolio of artwork and a personal interview are generally required.

3D Printing Engineer

3D technology is becoming a game changer in making technological advances in the world. It’s also one of the rapidly emerging fields.

3D Printing allows engineers to create sometimes extremely complex prototypes efficiently. Being able to understand and know how to operate 3D printing is very valuable.

In order to become one, you typically need a degree in engineering. Some of the more relevant fields are: Materials & Chemical Science, Mechanical Engineering, Electronic Engineering/Mechatronics, and Civil Engineering. However if you are more interested in the design aspect of 3D printing, 3D Modelling/Industrial Design is the degree to go for.

A career is STEM is not about doing “boring work in unpleasant settings”. It’s important to show students the diverseness of the industry to get them excited about a future of STEM.

Let us become your partner in STEM education!

At Wiz Robotics, our STEM classes offer exciting and engaging opportunities for students to practice problem solving.

Try a demo class and see for yourself!

Connect with us

Facebook / Instagram

Let’s deep dive into the format and structure of the Canadian Computing Competition (CCC)!

Are you a student who is…

• Currently in high school?
• Passionate about computer science?
• Interested in pursuing STEM majors?
• Looking to stand out in university applications?

If the answer is YES to all of the above bullets, then the Waterloo CCC might be the competition for you!

The Canadian Computing Competition (CCC) is a challenging but rewarding STEM competition for high school students who are passionate about pursuing STEM. In our previous blog post, we talked about what the CCC is and how it could help with university applications. Today, we will deep dive into the format and structure of the competition to help you become familiar with it and ultimately succeed!

The 2023 CCC will be held on Feb 7th, 2023. There’s less than a month away from the deadline but there’s still time to prepare!

Read on to find out how to best prepare for the CCC.

So what exactly is the CCC?

The CCC stands for the Canadian Computing Competition. It’s meant to be a fun challenge for participants with an interest in programming. You might often hear the CCC being referred to as the “Waterloo CCC” and that’s because the competition is organized by the Centre for Education in Mathematics and Computing (CEMC) at the University of Waterloo.

How is the CCC written?

The CCC is written in schools by using the CCC Online Grader. The online grader provides immediate feedback on solutions to algorithmic programming problems. Not only is it used in competitions, it also hosts a library of past competition problems to help students practice and prepare for the challenge.

It’s important to get familiar with the CCC Online Grader on the University of Waterloo website so you are better prepared for the actual competition.

What is the format for the CCC?

The CCC is a 3-hour long challenge consisting of 5 questions for both the Junior level and the Senior level competition. The Junior level is for those with beginner programming skills while the Senior level is for participants with intermediate to advanced programming skills.

An important thing to note is that teachers need to register in order for contests to be written in schools. There is no team competition.

Each question of the CCC is worth 15 points. The questions start on a relatively easy difficulty level and increase with each question. The CEMC has provided an outline of the questions to help you with your prep.

More information on the competition can be found on the CEMC website.

What are the languages required for the CCC?

According to the CEMC website, CCC participants may use C, C++, Python 2, Python 3, Pascal, Java, Perl, or PHP.

What else is there to know about the CCC?

There are a full set of rules for teachers and students on the CCC. It’s important to know these rules so you are able to participate in the competition.

What is the best way to prepare for the competition?

Once you have decided to participate in the CCC, we highly recommend you to spend some time preparing for it.

The most popular and well-known (also FREE) method of preparing is the CCC Online Grader. All you need to do is create an account and you can start accessing previous competitions and practice for free.

You can discover more ways directly through the CEMC website.

At Wiz Robotics, we have designed a CCC prep course to help you in this journey. All you have to do is enroll in the course, attend classes, and practice!

Participating in the CCC is a challenging but rewarding experience. We strongly encourage aspiring STEM students who are passionate about computer science and mathematics to try out first hand at the competition.

At the end of the day, you have nothing to lose but lots (of skills and knowledge) to gain!

Connect with us

Facebook / Instagram

And how to prepare for it?

Have you heard of the CCC? Did you know that participating in the CCC might help you with university applications and scholarships?

If not, then you’ve come to the right place! (But don’t click away even if you have! We want to see you succeed so read on to find out how.)

We are a little bit less than a month away from the 2023 CCC but there’s still time to start getting familiar with it.

In today’s blog, we will cover the following topics:

• What is the CCC?
• When is the CCC?
• Who is the CCC for?
• Why should you take the CCC?
• How to best prepare for it?

So what exactly is the CCC?

The CCC stands for the Canadian Computing Competition. It’s meant to be a fun challenge for participants with an interest in programming. You might often hear the CCC being referred to as the “Waterloo CCC” and that’s because the competition is organized by the Centre for Education in Mathematics and Computing (CEMC) at the University of Waterloo.

“Designed to be both accessible to participants with some programming experience and to challenge the keenest programmers at the secondary school level, the CCC helps participants build confidence and grow their ability to design, understand and implement algorithms.”

The 2023 CCC is coming up soon!

The CCC is held online every year in February. The deadline for ordering the 2023 CCC is February 7, 2023.

If you are a secondary school student with a special interest in programming, then this is the competition for you!

There’s no need to be stressed out about competing with others who might be more experienced in programming because according to the official CCC guidelines, participants may choose to write at the Junior or Senior level of the competition.

The Junior level is for those with beginner programming skills while the Senior level is for participants with intermediate to advanced programming skills.

But HEY! Who doesn’t love a challenge?

Why should you take the CCC?

Similar to any type of STEM competitions, participating in the CCC yields many benefits including:

• Challenge yourself and your problem-solving skills
• Discover and grow your passion in mathematics and computer science
• Develop critical thinking skills
• Further enhance your programming skills and demonstrate your abilities

As further reading on the benefits of participating in STEM competitions, be sure to check out our previous blog article: How STEM Competition Help Develop Problem Solving Skills?

However, one of the most important reasons for participating in the CCC from our perspective is that it serves as a critical asset for university applications.

University of Waterloo specifically pointed out that while contest participation is not a requirement for admission, they strongly encourage applicants to participate, as it is an asset to their application and can help in making Faculty scholarship decisions. This is especially important if you are applying for the Computer Science program because the CCC is an opportunity to test students’ ability in designing and understanding algorithms, as well as in programming.

If University of Waterloo is your dream school, don’t miss out on the opportunity to try the CCC!

Ready to participate in the CCC? Here are some ways to prepare yourself for it

Once you have decided to participate in the CCC, we highly recommend you to spend some time preparing for it.

The most popular and well-known (also FREE) method of preparing is the CCC Online Grader. All you need to do is create an account and you can start accessing previous competitions and practice for free.

You can discover more ways directly through the CEMC website.

At Wiz Robotics, we have designed a CCC prep course to help you in this journey. All you have to do is enroll in the course, attend classes, and practice!

Participating in the CCC is a challenging but rewarding experience. We strongly encourage aspiring STEM students who are passionate about computer science and mathematics to try out first hand at the competition.

At the end of the day, you have nothing to lose but lots (of skills and knowledge) to gain!

Connect with us

Facebook / Instagram

There are a ton of resources and articles online that talks about STEM’s role in helping to solve sustainability issues of the world. However, there’s an important missing piece of the puzzle that’s not being as widely discussed as it should have been — read on to find out more!

Sustainability is an ongoing topic that should not be ignored. In fact, the United Nation has declared 17 Sustainable Development Goals, which are urgent calls to action for all countries in a global partnership to strive towards peace and prosperity for the people and the planet.

Education is an important component of it all. There’s a growing awareness of STEM and STEM education in helping to solve sustainability issues of the world.

The golden question is — how do we create an education system that’s going to inspire and change the world for future generations?

Our very own Curriculum Director of Wiz Robotics, J. F. Michaud had the opportunity to speak at the Science Summit at the United Nations General Assembly back in September to talk specifically on the role of languages and STEM education in meeting the UN’s sustainable development goals.

I had the chance to chat with J.F. after his presentation and here are the most important things I learned.

The missing puzzle piece of the sustainability discussion — the call-to-action

We already are aware of STEM’s role in helping to solve sustainability issues. We always hear about them through articles, on the news, in popular culture, and in classrooms. However, we are often missing the call-to-action and not emphasizing on creating solutions for these problems.

Our very own FLL (FIRST Lego League) team is actually working on an innovative project as a call-to-action to sustainability issues. The team is made up of a group of students from Grades 4–8 and they are designing a bike to create a cycle that generates food.

The bike the team is working on is an exercise bike with a generator that connects to the bike. When the bike generates energy, it then stores energy in a battery and provides light for an indoor garden. The entire bike is creating a cycle that generates energy to produce food, and then the energy gets transferred back to human!

Watch out — Peloton!

STEM education should be focused on engaging students and inspiring them to use technology to solve problems. The call-to-action is the missing puzzle piece that we should not ignore!

While our FLL team’s innovative bike is a great example of a call-to-action, there are many other things closer to home that we could do to help with the solution.

We should rethink how we interpret the traditional 3R’s of sustainability

We have all been taught what the 3 R’s of sustainability are: Reduce, reuse, recycle.

People often think that recycling means throwing things in the recycling bin and then something new comes out of it in the end. While it’s true, the more appropriate way to look at “recycling” is reuse and repurpose at home before throwing it away.

For example, the holiday season means we might be receiving a lot of delivery boxes. Before we flatten those boxes for the recycling bin, maybe we could think about reusing them for ship out items to friends and family before purchasing new delivery boxes.

During our previous Wiz Prodigy Online STEM Competitions, we also encouraged participants to find items at home to reuse and repurpose for their Cybertruck or space rovers!

Tackling sustainability is not an easy task. That’s why we aim to inspire young minds to become future leaders of the world through STEM learning.

Learn how!

Connect with us

Facebook / Instagram

STEM learning extends beyond classrooms. We have been strong proponents of STEM competitions as an opportunity for students to challenge themselves and apply their learnings. In today’s blog post, we sat down with two students who are currently captains of their teams for the FIRST Tech Challenge.

At Wiz Robotics, not only do we organize our own STEM competitions such as the Wiz Prodigy Online Competition and the Wiz Summer Innovators Challenge, we also have our own students participate in external competitions. Competitions create a valuable opportunity for students to learn and apply STEM skills as well as other transferable skills such as problem solving and critical thinking skills.

We had a chance to chat with two Wiz students who are also captains of their teams for the FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) on their STEM journey and experience leading their teams.

FIRST Tech Challenge, formerly known as FIRST Vex Challenge, is a robotics competition for students in grades 7–12 to compete head to head, by designing, building, and programming a robot to compete in an alliance format against other teams.

Let’s meet…

Leo, captain of the Pr0Teens FTC team, and Michelle, captain of the DG (Drive Gears) team. Both Leo and Michelle are Grade 11 students who are passionate about STEM. This year will be Leo’s third year of participating in the FTC.

Q: Let’s talk about your STEM journey. When did you first start?

Leo: I was first introduced to technology when I was 4 years old. I played my first computer game and loved it. After that, I became interested in figuring out how those games were made and I wanted to know how computers worked. I attended a coding class in grade 5 after seeing a poster about it in school and that’s how it all started.

Michelle: I started STEM around grade 4 to 5. I took some programming classes and learned C++, java, and Python. I also did some lego building classes at community centres.

Q: What were the most attractive parts of STEM to you?

Leo: My passion for STEM first came from computer games. I also love the science part of STEM and how machines worked. I would say that’s where my passion for engineering came from. I loved going to the Science Centre.

Michelle: I love how there are many different paths you can take in STEM. I personally really like robotics and programming as well as physics and chemistry.

Q: What made you decide to compete in the 2022–2023 FTC Competition?

Leo: I first joined FTC in grade 9 as one of the lead mechanics of the team. At first I didn’t know how things worked but I was able to learn a lot of new skills over the years. Because I’ve improved myself every year and had a lot of success with FTC, I wanted to challenge myself and my abilities and to build upon the engineering skills I already have.

Michelle: I like the aspect of being able to compete with students my age who have similar interests (in STEM). It’s really cool to learn from everyone. I believe we can learn from each other and improve ourselves through collaboration.

Q: It’s great to hear that both of you had such great experiences at FTC! As the captain of your FTC team, what are your expectations for yourself and your team?

Leo: Our FTC team mentor have always said to us, “it doesn’t matter if you do a little or do a lot, what matters is that you do your best”. I’ve always expect our team to try to do their best for the team. I want everyone feel like they want to be a part of the team and want to do something for the team.

Michelle: As the captain of the team, I want to always be there for everyone on the team. My goal is to be optimistic and inspire the team members and to help others as much as possible. Motivation is important!

Q: What about winning? Does winning matter to you?

Leo: Winning matters but what matters more is that you learn from the experience. As long as you learn new things each time. It feels good to win but it’s better that you learn from the experience.

Michelle: Of course! I also want to be able to go to the world competition.

Q: What was the biggest challenge in your STEM journey?

Leo: Commitment is the biggest challenge. Being in the robotics team, everybody has a unique part that they are working on and everyone has to come together. However, it’s also a great learning opportunity. When somebody is absent from the team for whatever reason, everybody will come together to fulfill the missing piece.

Michelle: My biggest challenge is staying motivated and determined. My school has a lot of STEM students so it gets competitive when you compare yourselves with others. Staying motivated and passionate are what helps me to reach my goals.

Q: Use three words or a sentence to describe a good team.

Leo: Try the impossible. This team is all about trying the impossible. At first we didn’t think we could do it but throughout this FTC journey, we’ve achieved and even surpassed our goals. Everybody was passionate and committed.

Michelle: Determination, passion, being optimistic. As long as you can stay optimistic, you’ll have determination and passion to keep on going even when things get difficult.

It was so inspiring speaking to the two captains. We love to hear about their passion and dedication to their teams.

The main takeaways for us are:

• Don’t be afraid to be challenged. STEM competitions are not easy but challenging yourself to it will be rewarding!
• Winning is not everything. The most important thing is to have fun and give it your best shot.
• Follow your passions. Passions and determination will propel you to reach your goals!

Connect with us

Facebook / Instagram

During the most recent Wiz Prodigy Competition, a group of girls from Girls Inc. Northern Alberta took us on a journey “to the moon” with their Wiz Prodigy Space Rover. We had an opportunity to chat with them on their STEM learning experience through the competition with the hopes of inspiring more like-minded youths.

Back in March 2022, we wrote a blog post highlighting to the continuous gender equality problem in STEM fields. In order to combat this issue for the future generation, we pointed out that:

Correcting negative perceptions and eliminate biases at a young age can help students embrace STEM. This will give students an opportunity to take up an interest in STEM and provide them with ample time to learn more throughout their academic years.

There are a few important organizations out there that advocates for gender equality in STEM and empowers girls to succeed.

Introducing Girls Inc.

Girls Inc. is a nonprofit organization that encourages all girls to be “Strong, Smart, and Bold”. Their Operation SMART program seeks to motivate girls to achieve educational and career goals, particularly in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).

Having heard about this amazing organization, we were more than thrilled to learn that three students from the Girls Inc. of Norther Alberta in Canada participated in the most recent Wiz Prodigy Competition!

Meet the Team Girls Inc. of Northern Alberta

The Girls Inc. team at the Wiz Prodigy Competition was made up of three enthusiastic students eager to learn more about robotics and coding.

Their space rover was cool galaxy-themed and constructed from cardboard for its light weightiness and sturdiness. They had used wooden wheels, dowels and beads as a wheel mechanism for the wagon to complete one of the competition challenges and popsicle sticks as a hitch to connect the wagon to the rover.

We had the opportunity to sit down with the three participants Tanishka, Willow, and Parinika, along with Abby — the Senior Coordinator of Girls Inc. Northern Alberta to chat about their experience with the competition.

Q: What are your thoughts on the Wiz Prodigy Competition?

Willow: It was nice working in a team. Since this was my first time coding, or doing anything STEM, I thought it was going to be a lot harder. But it was easy (I guess).

Tanishka: It was definitely a great introduction to try something new. It was difficult at first but the tutorials on the Wiz Prodigy platform really helped me understand the concepts. It was easier for us to code our rover.

Q: Was this your first time coding or being in a STEM Competition?

Tanishka: I’ve participated in after school clubs and robotics teams. I’ve competed in robotics teams as well.

Parinika: I’ve taken computer classes and robotics classes in my school. I’ve also done robotics competitions

Q: What was your favourite part about the competition?

Parinika: I enjoyed making the body. It was a fun experience for construction purposes.

Tanishka: I love the programming part because I got to learn many new things I’ve never done before.

Willow: I drew the design of the robot and I liked painting it.

Q: Why do you think it’s important for people to get involved in STEM?

Tanishka: It’s a great thing and it’s really fun to learn and to do. The world is changing really quickly and technology is developing really quickly. If you know a little bit about STEM, it could really help you with your future career and hobby.

Willow: It’s important because you learn lots of things. It’s nice to start something new.

Parinika: It’s important to learn STEM. It’s used to help people in multiple fields. It’s constantly developing.

Q: Are you thinking of pursuing a future in STEM?

Willow: I have no idea what I’m going to be doing. Maybe.

Tanishka: It’s a little early for me to decide what I’m going to be doing in the future but I love software engineering so maybe something about that.

Q: Do you have any advice for students who are thinking about joining the next Wiz Prodigy competition?

Willow: It would be helpful if you know a few things about coding. Because if not, it could be really confusing.

Tanishka: The best advice I could give to someone was “never give up. When we were trying to program our rovers and things didn’t work, we got really frustrated. We encouraged each other and made it to the end.

Parinika: I would say that no matter what program you are facing, try to look for solutions and look for a way to solve the problem.

We enjoyed chatting with the Girls Inc. team. A few key points that we should all take away is that:

• Don’t be afraid to try something new! Even if it might sound daunting at first. Not everyone on the Girls Inc. were experts in STEM. It’s their enthusiasm that made it a great learning experience
• Don’t give up when faced with obstacles! Who said coding and robotics will be easy? It’s always important to work through the problems because that’s the best way to learn.
• It’s okay to experiment! You never know until you try it out.

Special thanks to Willow, Tanishka, Parinika, and Abby for sharing their experience with the Wiz Prodigy Competition and advice for future participants!

Watch the interview video below

Going beyond STEM Competitions

At Wiz Robotics, our STEM classes offer exciting and engaging opportunities for students to practice problem solving.

Try a demo class and see for yourself!

About Girls Inc. Operation SMART

The Girls Inc. experience empowers girls to succeed. Girls Inc. provides girls with trusting mentoring relationships, a girls-only environment, and research-based, hands-on programming. Three critical goals drive our programming: to help girls achieve healthy lives, succeed academically, and acquire the life skills needed to prepare them for adulthood.

Girls Inc. Operation SMART develops girls’ enthusiasm for and skills in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Through hands-on activities, girls explore, ask questions, persist, and solve problems. By interacting with women and men pursuing STEM careers, girls come to view these careers as exciting and realistic options for themselves.

Girls Inc. Operation SMART is an approach that each organization can apply to its own programming. Girls Inc. organizations may also implement one or more of the following components that have been built around the SMART philosophy.

Learn more about the Girls Inc. Operation SMART here.

Connect with us

Facebook / Instagram