Robotics, Rigor and Real-World Skills: Student-Led Camp Brings STEM to Life

By Miller Fishback

Last Friday morning, a group of young engineers gathered at Greenwich Town Hall to showcase the robots they’d spent the week building.

The presentation marked the conclusion of a week-long, hands-on robotics summer camp run by Ryan Wadhwa, a rising senior at Greenwich High School.

 

Open to students in grades 5 through 9, the week-long camp promoted the importance of STEM learning and was entirely student-led.

This session was the first of two Wadhwa is running this summer: July 7-11 and July 28-August 1, each running 9:00am to 12:00pm, at a cost of $250 per week.

Wadhwa explained that his mission was to “provide subsidized robotics/tech education to Greenwich youth,” emphasized the success of the week, and said he intends to host summer and spring sessions next year.

On Monday, the students received a kit to build either a robotic arm or a car. Throughout the week, each student built their robot independently with the support of the volunteers.

Wadhwa noted, “Because the kids were very bright, they finished their robots very fast…but the cool thing was, we got to keep adding stuff to make them even more individual and special. This also helped the kids to see that this is very applicable in the real world.”

He reflected, “All of the students, though at times difficult, were wonderful. Working with so many different types of kids was a great opportunity, and I love doing it. Though it required hours of prep, the experience was incredibly rewarding.”

Before showing off the creations, student volunteers Isaac “Monty” Bell and Avery Ku presented their experience with Vex Robotics to encourage students to pursue robotics into high school and beyond.

They opened by showing a video from the 2025 Vex Robotics World Championships, where the Greenwich team—founded and led by Ku—competed for the first time. The game featured a fast-paced mix of intense robotic moves and driver control, performed in a massive arena with loud, ecstatic commentary.

Bell discussed how Vex teaches the importance of both collaboration and independence, recounting how their team was once reprimanded after a mentor briefly handed Avery a controller—something that, while seemingly insignificant, violates Vex’s strict student-only rules.

“It really just puts into perspective the level of student independence and self-drive students have to rely on here.”

They spoke about the strong culture around Vex, the significance of the Engineering Design Process, and the long and competitive path to competing at the Vex World Championships–where people come from “over 60 different countries.” Vex, specifically, requires the use of pro-level software and real-world STEM skills used by engineers globally.

Avery then brought out his team’s Worlds robot for display.

This complex machine was not only impressive in its design but also in its speed and efficiency. The 2025 game was called High Stakes, and the students had to design robots that could rapidly place various rings onto stakes across the playing field.

Avery closed by prompting the students to continue with robotics even when it gets challenging. “Starting individually meant that I had to learn everything by myself, and that took countless hours of struggling…but I’ve also learned many important soft skills along the way. The main thing that Vex has taught me is discipline and work ethic. It is not easy…but by doing Vex, you develop a sense of discipline that is extremely useful wherever you go in life.”

He left the students with an understanding of how, though it may be hard, challenges like this are beneficial to individual growth by teaching everything from self-reliance and iteration to innovation and creativity.

After the pair concluded their discussion and took a few questions, Ryan opened the floor for students to come up and present their robots.

Students showed off their noteworthy creations and shared a challenge they faced and a benefit they gained from the week.

One student shared, “I like that it actually works…I’m proud of myself.”

Another noted, “The best part was having fun, making friends, and figuring it out.”

All students seemed to agree that the biggest challenge was getting the “tiny black screws” to stay, but if that was their biggest challenge, then it’s clear the week was a success.

Wadhwa closed by thanking all the students and parents and provided pizza to celebrate.