On Friday, October 18, the downtown Chicago Microsoft office hosted a Prompt-a-Thon STEAM event for middle and high school students. The event was designed to expose students to AI and robotics.
Danny Kim opened the event with a keynote presentation on cybersecurity, highlighting the numerous threats facing corporations and individuals and discussing how to protect ourselves. Danny is the CTO of Full Armour Consulting, but he is also heavily involved in his local school district and with the Quest for Excellence organization, which promotes STEM education for K-12 students.
After the keynote, the students split into two groups. The first group assembled robotic vehicles and then deployed software to drive and control the vehicles for a battle bots competition. The second group was asked to create a presentation on using the Generative AI capabilities of Microsoft Copilot to solve a real-world problem. I was a mentor and judge for the second group. We selected three winning teams from the presenters, awarding each team member a Starbucks gift card or t-shirt. The winning presentations were:
- Small Boats, Inc.: This group used generative AI to design 3D models of a toy boat that was safe for children and fish. Their presentation was polished and professional-looking.
- Mental Health Problems for People in Poverty: This group did an amazing job identifying the health problems of the poor and proposing solutions to those problems. They prompted Copilot for their questions and answers.
- Terraforming: This was a creative proposal to terraform a new planet for earthlings to colonize. While not practical in the short term, the team showed great creativity.
Customer Success Account Manager Lori Kim organized the event. Students, parents, and volunteers came from far away. Many battled rush hour traffic to drive 40 miles from Barrington, IL to downtown Chicago. One student summarized his experience: "It was really informative and very fun and very tiring."