CSAIL at MIT Hosts Hour of Code Event for High School Students
The Computer Science and Artificial
Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) held
its second annual Hour of Code event on
Friday, December 11, with 150 students from local high schools
participating.
The Hour of Code is an initiative launched in 2013 by Code.org to introduce children and adults of all
ages to computer programming during Computer
Science Education Week.
Math and computer science students from schools in Cambridge, Charlestown,
Roxbury, Somerville and other high schools in the greater Boston area took part
in this year's CSAIL event, according to information from MIT.
Researchers from the lab demonstrated some of the projects they're working
on, including a 3-D printer called "MultiFab" that can print objects with up to
10 different materials at once; a 6-foot-tall, 400 pound humanoid robot called
Atlas that can open doors, climb stairs and drive a car; and a wireless device
that can see through walls to detect, track and identify individuals.
In addition to the demonstrations, MIT graduate students were on hand to
talk to participants about how they got started in programming and why
programming is important.
The Hour of Code encourages everybody to try computer programming for one
hour during Computer Science Education Week, which was December 7-13 this
year. The goal of the initiative is to demystify computer programming and
demonstrate that anybody can learn coding basics. Since the initiative launched
two years ago, more than 166 million people around the world have participated
in the event, and tech companies such as Apple and Microsoft have hosted Hour
of Code events.
Further information about the Hour of Code can be found on Code.org's site.
About the Author
Leila Meyer is a technology writer based in British Columbia. She can be reached at [email protected].