Robotics Internship Takes Student to Unexpected Places

Ben Winbinger had experience with robotics.

Through middle school and high school, the sophomore cybersecurity major built custom robots for competition as part of a team. It was an experience that helped him on the path to his major at Rockhurst. But when it came time to look for a community work study position through Rockhurst University helping mentor younger students in robotics wasn't an opportunity he knew existed.

"My mom said, 'I really want, I really want you to work in campus ministry, but I think I found something that might be right up your alley,'" Winbinger said.

The "something" in question here was WeCode KC, an organization down the street from the Rockhurst University campus founded by Tammy Buckner, '22 EMBA, providing tech-based activities for youth in Kansas City's urban core. Winbinger was offered a position as a mentor for the organization's in-house robotics program, which includes students from University Academy, who build robots for competition and other special projects.

"I said, 'Well, that's a no-brainer right there,'" he said. "It was a chance to get some extra experience in this area and work with kids, too."

As part of the leadership for the program, he helps the team design and custom-build robots that will be used in the competition cycle. Typically, the competitions are centered around a specific task that the robot will need to be built and programmed to complete.

In addition to preparing those teams for competition, Winbinger has helped with several memorable projects - one, a robot commissioned by the University of Missouri-Kansas City to throw out the first pitch at a Kansas City Royals game, and another a custom video game developed in partnership with KC Current for its goalkeeper, AD Franch, in honor of her receiving the Lauren Holiday Impact Award. Both involved some creative - and quick - thinking.

"It always happens - things just go wrong," he said. "The first time we had the robot pitch a ball, it literally imploded. The pitching mechanism on the front just broke."

As a mentor, Winbinger said his job was to encourage the students on the team to troubleshoot and fix those kinds of issues and step in when necessary.

"They're taking the lead as much as it's feasible," he said.

That process helps them learn the creative thinking that powers STEM skills, but it also helped Winbinger develop his own leadership and communication skills. The chance to interact with some professional sports players didn't hurt.

"This gave me more than I could even fathom. Through WeCode I've been able to meet two different professional sports players," he said. "It's something that I think I'll remember for years to come."

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