Episode Transcript
[00:00:10] Speaker A: This is the owlcast, the official podcast of ACS Athens.
Listen to the exciting story of the american community schools of Athens.
Check out what drives all the members of our international community of learners as we create the education of the future.
Here's John Papadakis.
[00:00:46] Speaker B: Welcome to the Innovation lab of the Aces Athens Institute, where the future meets the classroom.
[00:00:52] Speaker C: In this episode of the Owlcast, we're.
[00:00:54] Speaker B: Joined by an inspired and motivated group of educators who operate in the heart of emerging dynamics and shifting paradigms. Guided by the institute North Star, preparing students today for the needs of the world tomorrow, get ready to embark on an exhilarating journey through the future. Academy Innovation Lab. With us today, Carla Thanas, Katharina Apostolaki, Arceatel Estimianos, Andreas Nicolopoulos, and doctor Nathalie Mitchell. From the youngest minds to the most seasoned thinkers, the innovation lab caters to all ages and interests. Picture kindergarteners taking their first steps into the world of science and engineering, while first and second graders explore the wonders of nature, transforming into budding scientists before our very eyes. Meanwhile, third to fifth graders dive deep into the realms of automation and power models, laying the groundwork for future innovations. Middle schoolers praise themselves for an adventure in steam computer science and environmental science like never before. Imagine designing lunar settlements in our moon camp. Or fine tuning Formula one vehicles from scratch. Because here, the sky's not the limit. It's just the beginning. But it's not just about sparking curiosity. It's about nurturing it into a flame of innovation with a focus on R and D. Project mindsets and biomimicry, students learn to draw inspiration from nature and channel it into their own creations. The journey from idea to prototype isn't just a straight line. It's a winding road of continuous improvement, where each iteration brings us closer to our final masterpiece. In a world increasingly affected by robots and AI, it's easy to lose sight of the real question. It's not the tool, but the user that matters most. Dive into the ethical questions surrounding AI and robots as we strive to raise awareness through informed education. And let's not forget the power of peer to peer teaching, whether it's through the sewing for a purpose club or the groundbreaking can sat project.
And get ready to immerse yourself in the world of immersive learning, where traditional education tools meet cutting edge VR technology. Because here at ACS Athens, we're not just shaping the future, we're living it one innovation at a time.
[00:03:24] Speaker D: We're here today. It's really exciting to be here. Thank you, Mister Papadakis, for having us here. The innovation lab has come a long way. It's our first year anniversary and I am happy to celebrate this first year with everyone who's here. Today we have Miss Katerina Postolaki, Mister Aristoteli Estimanos, Mister Andreas Nicolopoulos and doctor Natalie Mitchell.
[00:03:49] Speaker E: Okay, so my name is Katerina Postelaki. I'm the institute support officer and the instructor for the sewing for Purpose club.
[00:03:57] Speaker F: Hello everyone. I'm very happy to be here. I'm Thymeanozzi Dotelis. I'm teaching physics in the academy, middle school math and steam in high school as well.
[00:04:06] Speaker G: Hello, I'm Andreas Nicolopoulos. I'm happy to be here. I'm teaching robotics in grade six and computer science in grades seven and eight.
[00:04:14] Speaker H: Hi, I'm Natalie Mitchell and I teach academy biology, both biology nine and ib biology for a higher end sl level. And I'm a proud mentor of the biomimicry team.
[00:04:28] Speaker C: Biomimicry?
[00:04:29] Speaker H: That's correct.
[00:04:30] Speaker C: We're going to talk about that term very soon. So Miss Danlos, thank you so much for being here. Thank you for bringing the whole group here in the first anniversary.
Take us through, I don't want to say the history of these groups, but what is the purpose of taking the initiatives around the school and create this kind of set of activities for our students? And is it only for our students? We need to clarify that.
[00:04:57] Speaker D: Yeah. So let me give a little bit of context about the institute and then lead my way to the innovation lab. The institute is a forward thinking, nonprofit organization that complements ACs Athens in a rapidly changing world.
It serves as a bridge between corporations, universities and other industry stakeholders and really engaging our students to have real life, hands on experiences while they anticipate. And we all, as a community, anticipate emerging dynamics and shifting paradigms. For us, our north star as the institute is really to look at these shifting paradigms and see how we could trickle that back to our community and then take that to build resources and to bring on discussions and to bring on tools and programs that could really advance learning. I could enhance skills. So as a vision for the institute, this is where we're going and this is what we're doing. Really. As a complimentary to ACS Athens, you.
[00:06:00] Speaker C: Mentioned something that, it sounds like a cliche, but it's a very important thing for people to understand. What do you mean by shifting paradigms? Can you give me an example?
[00:06:09] Speaker D: Yeah. So the world is changing drastically and especially with AI at the forefront what we know and how our day to day life is, the skills maybe that we have at hand, might become redundant. So all of this shifts who we are as a person, who we are as we being, who we are as a purpose, where we're going. And this is something we're taking a look at very closely and dissecting and really analyzing from the institute side to see how can we prepare the students of today to be ready for an AI society tomorrow. How could they leave ACs Athens being well prepared to be able to incorporate and lead the way of tomorrow? So when we speak about shifting paradigms, we're really looking at AI. But AI is one of the major technologies. But there are others over there, and I don't want to get into the aspects of technology.
This is what we mean by shifting the paradigm. So within the institute, there are five academies. We have the future Academy, the Leadership academy, the Scholars Academy, the well being and Living Arts Academy. But for today's discussion, I want to focus in on the future academy. And it's just that on relevant, fast changing paradigms and usually zooming into technologies and how that impacts our lives. In this academy, we have the innovation lab, and the innovation lab is really to support this vision.
And it's dedicated to building a culture here at ACS Athens of students who are equipped with knowledge, skills and mindset to begin thinking critically and creatively about building algorithms for AI.
[00:07:44] Speaker C: This is a physical space.
[00:07:45] Speaker D: It is a physical space here at ACS Athens. Again, it's one year. We just started a year ago with a vision and with the kind contribution from IkEA, as well as Leo and Merlin, they have helped supported us in making this vision come true. So this is a culture we want to build with hands on experience, access to resources, and exposure to experts in the field. So we don't have one innovation lab specialist. Actually, we have many experts coming from all different fields. Some of the instructors who are here today, who are really well versed in the fields that they are at, we have programs starting from elementary, then those lead all the way to high school, again with the vision of building a culture. So we start with the kindergarteners in designing their first steps into science, technology and engineering, where they explore concepts and phenomena of the world around them and create one or more structure at a time. In the first and second grade, we have another engineering course, and this is to transform them into little scientists, where these children consider what happens in nature, how something works, or what a device is for them by observing the world around them. And then they look at these and use their skills to build simple models of the mechanisms, looking at gears, pulleys, levers and how they would be encountered in the environment. And then the third and fifth graders, they use power of automation. This is where they learn about automations and collaborate to solve real world problems and developing models that transition from manual to electrically powered mechanisms and automated devices with idea of how to create, to contribute positively to the environment. So we're starting them young really to get that culture in place now. Furthermore, in the middle school and high school, we have programs that are led with our steam experts and computer science experts and environments, mental science experts, more of which you're going to hear about today. And just to run through them, there's the Moon Camp Challenge. And this is a collaboration with the European Space Agency and Airbus foundation, which encourages students to learn about the world of lunar settlement design, utilizing a 3d modeling tool to stimulate creativity and scientific exploration. There's Formula one.
These are addressed to our eleven to 13 year old students who are inspired for the love of mechanical design, manufacturing, and in the industry of Formula one as a whole, students learn about manufacturing, engineering, managing simulations, optimizing industrial processes, and ultimately 3d printing their car.
And then there's canset as well. That's a mission to design, construct and launch a small cansite satellite packed with scientific instruments. And all these are led by Mister Thymjanos, who's going to go into more detail about each one of them.
[00:10:39] Speaker C: Let's hear from Mister Simianos. Because if I was a seven or eight or nine year old, all these titles of the different sections of the courses, or how you call them, the academies, these sound really sophisticated. So I'm trying to figure out what stand out in the mind of someone who comes in these courses. What kind of project can someone see in this course? In this project?
[00:11:10] Speaker F: Okay, so to begin with, we are talking about middle school. So it's seven graders, 8th graders, so they are between eleven and 13 years old. So basically the first input that they have is maybe an interest about space, an interest about designing, about 3d printing any innovative technology that's out there. So this will be the spark that will lead them in order to join the club. After that, they tend to realize that maybe what they signed up for isn't exactly what they had in mind in the beginning. Because of course we are talking about hands on things. So in order to design a Formula one car, for example, you need to do the research before that. It's not just a small toy car that you will make and that will be it. You have to do the research. You have to learn how to design, how to use specific tools, of course, and specific softwares. Most of them are very good with technology either way, so they can save up a lot of time because they are very good with laptops, basically. But after that, of course, you have to research and develop. All of these are R and D projects. So once they have done the research, they develop the design, for example. Then they have to test the car, of course, and then they have to reassess their initial thought, their initial design, and basically tweak some small details in order to achieve the optimal result.
[00:12:27] Speaker C: For example, you mentioned that they start with something that it turns out to be a little bit different. Can you describe an element of surprise that the kids come and tell you, I didn't expect this, or what am I doing here?
[00:12:41] Speaker F: Yes, of course. For example, for the f one project, again, which is for middle schoolers, most of them, they just saw a 3d printed car that I had as a display once I launched the club. And then they thought that they were just 3d print things. But then they came in and they understood that they have to design something before they actually print it. And this is a little bit difficult, especially if you have no experience with 3d design before. So many people got surprised from the idea that they have to learn to use specific technologies first before they actually get the final product that they saw. And maybe the final product that they saw was the thing that sparkled their interest and got them to sign in, for example.
[00:13:22] Speaker C: Okay, how about the next one?
[00:13:25] Speaker F: The next course, Mooncamp challenge is also pretty similar design, just design of a settlement on the moon, basically. This has also a lot of research. So again, maybe you're a space enthusiast and you like the idea of going to the moon one day, but you have to do the research in order to see where will you create your habitat, how will you get there? Since you will be there one day, how will you live there? What will be the circumstances, the food, the health issues that you have to face? So there is a lot of research, theoretical research, before you actually do the hands on design.
[00:13:58] Speaker C: And how do they handle this kind of theoretical research? I'm talking about? We're talking about really young students. I mean, unless you take them to see the Martian or read the book to see how to grow potatoes on.
[00:14:12] Speaker F: Soil, maybe interstellar would be a better option for a movie. But of course, we live in era of rapid.
[00:14:19] Speaker C: I thought it would be too heavy. I didn't mention interstellar, but could be.
[00:14:23] Speaker F: Could be. But as you know, we do have pioneers in the school. We're living there in a need of rapid technological evolution. So all the students are aware with many tools, for example, they can use AI to help them out, save up some time so they can do the research partially on their own, the traditional way that they're just looking at books and resources. They can get some help from artificial intelligence. Of course, I am also experienced with that as an astrophysicist. I have some knowledge and I can share my knowledge with them to help them out, at least to build up the foundation. And after that, of course, it's on every student on how much they will move on into their research and how deep they will go.
[00:15:07] Speaker A: You are listening to the owlcast, the official podcast of ACS Athens.
[00:15:22] Speaker C: Let's move to the catchy word of the day, which is biomimicry. And I had the student come the studio yesterday and they said, well, I need to do something about biomimicry. I'm like, about what?
He couldn't explain it to me personally. I have the expert here, so please, doctor Mitchell.
[00:15:42] Speaker H: Yeah, so biomimicry comes from bio and mimicry. So anything biology based, nature based, and mimicry is to emulate. So we're using nature inspired design, whether that's from a plant or an animal, or to influence design into something that can lead to a sustainable solution. The biomimicry competition that we're taking part of is an international competition.
And the students have to create a nature inspired solution to a UN sustainability goal.
[00:16:17] Speaker C: Did you have a student come to you and say, why should I participate? I hear this sounds exciting, but why should I participate? What do you answer?
[00:16:25] Speaker H: I ask if they're interested in the world around them. I ask them, are they interested in design or engineering or creating a product? Are they inspired by making the world a better place? Oftentimes I think this generation is growing up with being told that the world is heading towards imminent catastrophe and it's. And the older generation is just going to sit back and wait for them to take over and cure all of our ills. And that's a lot of pressure to put on a young generation and young minds. And I feel that through the biomimicry competition and through this, people with fears about the way the future is or how sustainable our future is, these students can actually create something towards change and for the better. And they can feel inspired by that.
[00:17:19] Speaker C: Is there a foundation to collaborate with the moon camp?
[00:17:22] Speaker F: That would be amazing.
[00:17:23] Speaker H: That would be really cool.
[00:17:24] Speaker G: That would be really cool.
[00:17:25] Speaker C: Yeah, because you're talking about, I mean, I don't know what kind of biology you can have on the moon, but, you know, they did it on Mars, I guess, futuristic.
[00:17:34] Speaker F: The idea of bioaminity, if I'm not mistaken. Correct me on the historical mixture, is that you take a problem and you try to find a solution by looking at nature, right?
[00:17:42] Speaker H: Correct. So something like Velcro. Velcro was inspired, used actually for first time in space to stick things onto the walls without gravity. But Velcro was actually inspired by plant burrs. So the hook of plant burrs that used to get stuck into a scientist's dog and they wouldn't come out. And that inspired Velcro. So it's looking at nature and some of the problems that nature has developed and using that towards a solution.
[00:18:11] Speaker C: Okay, so I think we should rename that show Mythbusters, because right now you're busting the myth of Velcro.
Okay, the next one, let's go to Robomania.
[00:18:23] Speaker G: Okay.
[00:18:24] Speaker C: What's robomaniac?
[00:18:25] Speaker G: It's for those who are maniacs for robots.
[00:18:30] Speaker C: Is there a misconception about robots in your mind or something that you would like to clarify? What's a robot?
[00:18:37] Speaker G: Sometimes there is, because they all think that robots might be autonomous, but they're not. It's something that you program it the way you want, the actions, the performance, the activities you wanted to make. It's someone behind it, always. Now, if we go to a termination or thinking or ideas, that's something entirely different. That is artificial intelligence. Behind there are artificial intelligence robots just like Sophia, which also we have some projects here.
[00:19:09] Speaker C: Who's trying to smile convincingly?
[00:19:11] Speaker G: Yeah, yeah. That's actually true. But the robomanics, which we created is, first of all, we have a class which we offer it to the 6th graders. We want to create a robot club. And through this we have communicated with other organizations. In order for us to be able to participate in competitions, we are going to participate 30th and 31 march in our first competition here in Athens. It's the world Robotics Organization. But our goal is to grow. And for next year, if our goal is through the innovation lab to offer it also in high schoolers, we want to aim higher.
[00:19:56] Speaker C: I'm going to risk a prediction. Your club is the most populous one.
[00:20:00] Speaker G: My numbers don't say that.
[00:20:04] Speaker C: I was trying to promote it, but that's.
[00:20:07] Speaker G: Well, it's something that can grow. It's popular.
[00:20:13] Speaker C: What's the first question? People come to you when they. They are interested to join the club what are they asking you?
[00:20:20] Speaker G: The design. They want to create an actual robot. The design, because you take parts. It's different parts in your. To make something to be efficient. For example, there are different sensors. How I attach all of these in the hub. The hub is the mind, is the controller. But this is the easy part, the designation, which, again, it's kind of hard sometimes because you want to make something that is going to be efficient. Make a series of tasks which sometimes in a competition breaks down. Yeah, breaks down.
So we come to the difficult part, which is the code. It. And as you coded, you find mistakes, problems which are on the design.
So it's a back and forth always when you try this doesn't work.
[00:21:07] Speaker F: It works.
[00:21:08] Speaker G: This. It's pretty much similar to Aristotelian, what he said before. You basically try to tweak the components that you did before, both in the design and the code in a different way, though. And you try to adjust it in a way to find the solution.
So you get the prototype, you work on this, you create your code. The code doesn't work. Okay, why doesn't the code. Why doesn't the code work? I need to go back. I need to understand it.
Do I need to fix something on my design? Do I need to add another axle, another wheel?
These kinds of things which students are starting to learn here at our school.
And it's something that is growing and they really like it. Those who are participating, they really like it.
[00:21:51] Speaker C: How worried are you regarding robots and OpenAI?
Can an LLM system work with a robot to create a really intelligent robot?
[00:22:05] Speaker G: I think there is a project running at this moment where they have installed.
If I'm afraid. No, I'm not afraid.
[00:22:14] Speaker C: You're not afraid?
[00:22:15] Speaker G: I'm not afraid.
[00:22:15] Speaker C: You're not worried?
[00:22:16] Speaker G: I'm not worried.
[00:22:17] Speaker C: You're not skepticist?
[00:22:20] Speaker G: Well, I'm afraid for those who are using this method.
[00:22:23] Speaker C: So it's not the tool, it's the user.
[00:22:26] Speaker G: I'm worried for those people, how they tend to use it, because, I mean, yes, you can use it for any reason, but.
So it's the ethical part, which we also try to discuss and raise awareness.
Yes. AI can be used for anything, and it's already been used for, let's say, purposes that are not ethical ones.
There is a fear, but we need to overcome this fear. And that's why through our school and I think through the classes that we're running and the clubs we're trying to raise to our students this awareness that there is an ethical part, there is an ethical part, and we're trying to show them their way so they can become conscious of citizenship and have, so that they can have a big impact to our everyday lives and to the world around us.
[00:23:17] Speaker C: Okay. That seems to be a great purpose for AI and technology and everything else. But I mean, what about if you don't have a purpose, and what do you do with sewing? So we have a sewing for purpose person here, which is, to tell you the truth, I saw the equipment that you have there, and I don't want to tell you what I was thinking about it, but tell us a little bit. Katerina Apostolaici so you are the instructor, the guide for the students who want to do what?
[00:23:48] Speaker E: Okay, so the sewing for purpose club is a middle school club. It runs every Tuesday during middle school lunch. The idea was that this is a club through which we're trying to teach students not just how to saw, but also to saw for a specific purpose. So the purpose changes every year. And this year we have selected stress and anxiety.
This started off last year. It was a submission, the idea for the ACS Athens Open initiative. So four middle school students decided to participate in the competition. The idea was not selected, but we could see that they were really passionate about this. So we came up with the idea that this could be turned into a club. And because the students decided that this was a good purpose to start with, we decided to move on with that. So we have been assigned with a reading corner in the writing studio, which we're trying to provide a makeover for.
And by adding comfort, personal touches to this dedicated space, our goal is to create an environment that inspires a love for learning.
We have created several products, including anti stress balls, lori pads, scented sachets, and we're going to add two more by the end of the year, including bean bags and puff blankets.
Students are there because they really love sewing. Some of them are complete beginners, but some of them are not.
So there is an element of peer to peer teaching, if we can call it that.
And I think the main reason why they are there is because it's not just the end products that are very relaxing, it's also the process itself.
So I would say the strongest attracting element for this is the experience of low.
[00:25:49] Speaker C: And this is for middle school students.
[00:25:51] Speaker E: That's right.
[00:25:51] Speaker C: So if you had to do only one thing to show only one thing for the next month, what would you choose?
Was it a stress ball? Would be, I don't know, a jacket or. Yeah.
[00:26:09] Speaker E: Probably the puff blankets.
[00:26:11] Speaker C: Puff blankets. Okay.
[00:26:13] Speaker E: I like them the most. I like the fact that this is group work. So we work together to design different aspects of this project, and then we put everything together into one bigger project. So I really love this element myself, but I'm not sure if you were to ask the students if they would answer the same.
[00:26:34] Speaker C: No, no. I asked you because you're inspiring the students.
[00:26:37] Speaker E: Yes.
[00:26:37] Speaker C: So, okay. That is totally acceptable.
I don't know if anybody has to say something else about what you are doing in the club, but the question is, before I asked, how does biomimicry work with the moon camp?
How does the sewing for purpose work with robotics?
How can these things, and you can add to it, you are to do an exercise. Think of you collaborating with the other club. What kind of activity would you envision the kids do?
[00:27:15] Speaker D: I think if we bring in all this together, there's a reason why there are all these different programs. Because, for example, the sewing, if you look at innovation and if you look at technology altogether, sewing has a purpose behind it beside anxiety and stress. We also.
[00:27:31] Speaker C: Which is a good purpose.
[00:27:32] Speaker D: Yes, of course.
But the actual. The reason why we onboarded it is also to give students something which they could use their hands, but more particularly to focus, because technology, it's accelerating such a fast pace, we're losing focus. This is one of the ways we want them to focus in. And the research does show that the more you multitask, it slowers your mind. So we want students to start to build hands on skills that they could utilize during these times, which takes us back to what every single one of them is doing, has a purpose behind it as to how we build the.
[00:28:09] Speaker E: Programs, if I may say so myself, one of the things that students really love is that most of us, and I think this applies to all instructors in this room, actually do the work that we're teaching. We're not just there to preach or explore theories.
There is a very hands on approach to everything that we do, and I think that's something they really like.
[00:28:30] Speaker F: I also add to that because it wasn't mentioned before for the Kansat in Greece team, and I just connected the piece right now, because we do have one club, which is focusing on design, which is the f one. We have the showing club, of course, which they're showing things, and puppets and anti stress do therapy products. Exactly. And we have robomaniac, which are making a robot with moving things and moving elements. So a nice combination for all these three middle school clubs is the Kansat high School club, which I didn't explain before because basically students, as Mistana said before, they have to design a whole mission, and basically they have to do the 3d design of the actual satellite, which will have some moving parts which are robomaniac related, and they're also using a parachute in order to have a proper decent rate. So this also suing because they're also showing their parachute. So it's a nice connection there.
[00:29:23] Speaker C: And how does biomimicry fit in?
[00:29:26] Speaker F: Biomimicry is the only one that I couldn't find a common.
[00:29:29] Speaker C: Well, that's why she's gonna end this discussion. Okay.
[00:29:33] Speaker H: As we say, I also want to suggest that, you know, robots might need clothes, too.
Biomimicry really fits into everybody's project. It's a different way of looking at design. Anytime that there is design element in a process, whether that's designing a space satellite or a f one vehicle or a robot, or designing the best poof. We can look to nature to look at what nature has already done, because biology and nature always will find a way to have the most elegant solution to something. Otherwise it wouldn't exist. It would have evolved away. So we can really apply biomimicry to any design application to really kind of use what we know and what we see and what has nature done and apply that, and we can find a very streamlined solution.
[00:30:30] Speaker C: And you can see that, especially when you design a tool, you see what nature does. And most of our tools, in a sense, they mimic nature exactly.
[00:30:41] Speaker F: So I really like to add a small quote there with everything we are doing, basically, Benjamin Franklin once said, tell me, and I forget. Teach me, and I may remember, involve me, and I learn. So this is very important as educators to see what else we can do in order to foster learning in the school.
[00:30:59] Speaker D: Okay, well, you know, as far as biomimicry is concerned, I think we've underestimated nature. Nature really is, has its perfection. It has its system in place, and we're just taking bits and pieces together. And biomimicry is really a way for inspiration to bring back to all that everybody is doing, wherever they are doing. So it's a great starting place.
[00:31:19] Speaker C: Do we have something else to conclude? Yeah, we do.
[00:31:21] Speaker D: We do have two more programs that I want to bring to the forefront. One is on immersive learning. So in the innovation lab, we have been pioneering a blend of traditional education with VR technology.
And we've been working closely with our faculty on this, on offering experiential learning and skill development through virtual field trips and expert led experiences, really preparing students for future job markets and fostering curiosity and a love for learning. We've started our development with this and it's really starting to get students to prepare where the future is going in this multidimensional world. We've actually also onboarded a masterclass around this. So students are actually designing their own virtual environment and with the aim that they're going to create the first ACS Athens virtual environment. So they're in the process of doing that. But in addition, there's also the ACS Athens open. But this is really a place for where, you know, how we could bring innovation and entrepreneurship together. So innovation is really what everybody is doing here, is taking a look at the problem and seeing it from a different angle and how can we solve just like what Mister Nicolopou and Mister Simeono says, we have to go back and forth and relook and take, you know, a different approach to something. Once we do get to that place where we find the solution, then how do we make it valuable to our society and sustainable? And that's where we bring in the entrepreneurial part.
[00:32:46] Speaker C: Well, Miss Stannis, Doctor Mitchell, Miss Apostolake, Mister Simianos, Mister Nicolopoulos, thank you so much for coming to tell us what we can do with our imagination, in a sense. Thank you so much.
[00:32:59] Speaker G: Thank you.
[00:32:59] Speaker E: Thank you for having us.
[00:33:02] Speaker A: You are listening to the owlcast, the official podcast of ACS Athens. Make sure you subscribe to the Allcast on Google Podcast, Spotify and Apple Podcasts. This has been a production of the ACS Athens Media studio.
