Tarawera rangatahi were thrilled at the prospect of working on robots and testing their operations. Dr Ben Chang and his team ensured that the students were kept busy with a challenging yet doable activity during our PTC workshop. Students produced some creative designs as they gearedup to battle each other at the end of the day. As one teacher noted, “it was a great opportunity for our small-town kids to see what university looks like and where they could reach if they wanted to”,

PTC Trust has been running these workshops for over 8 years at University of Waikato. The Canadian Vet Journal (2019) describes how ‘robots are poised to revolutionize the practice of medicine. Artificial intelligence, miniaturization, and computer power are contributing to the rise in design and use of robots in medicine’. Since the 2019 article, medical robots have played an extensive role in all forms of surgery, with the stage set for them to continually be utilised. According to the journal, ‘one instrument, da Vinci, approved by the FDA in 2000, is said to have been used to perform over 6 million surgeries worldwide’. Many institutions are also using robots to find a place to keep hospitals clean as hospital rooms are being disinfected with the use of high-intensity UV light applied by a robot.

PTC workshops continue to ensure that our rangatahi are poised on the cutting edge of technological innovation.

Good work everyone!