Building a Cause in CTD Backpack: Nonprofit Student Startups

Usually when you ask a 6^th grader, who is building a robot, what the idea is behind his robot, you may expect several responses such as…to play catch; to help me do my homework; or even to have a cool new friend. What you might not expect is the answer we received from Center for Talent Development (CTD) student, Miquel Aenlle, who says the idea behind his robot is to “have something replicate all of a human’s functions, to be used by a deep-learning neural network, in which it will adapt to its environment”. Miquel’s vision for this project is to “see if a deep neural network can actually achieve the same level of consciousness as a human.” Miquel has a little way to go, outlining his next steps in exacting order: 

• By next week, my shoulder joint’s design will be done.
• It may take me just less than the following week to 3D Print both arms
• After, I’ll design a chest piece that contains some of the sensors and the Raspberry Pi.
• Then, I’ll design the head with MV sensors.
• Once those steps are done, I’ll test the neural network on only the upper extremities

This is just one example of the projects students in CTD’s online community, CTD Backpack, are bringing to life. According to Andrew Bauer, CTD Backpack’s Online Content/Community Manager, “We have seen Backpack start to evolve into a space where students are taking their passions around their personal pathways, and turning them into action. We have seen students drive our community into a collaborative space, to brainstorm ideas and provide informative feedback toward driving innovation and implementation.”

Some students are using this unique online community for another type of project…building a cause. These students are attempting to create change and opportunity in the broader community, through the creation of non-profits. One of these budding causes is Project Open Education.

Project Open Education is a nonprofit, which provides educational services primarily online, and by mail and telephone. So, what’s unique about this take on correspondence learning? It was created by a 5^th grader, CTD student, Vijay Roy. The mission behind Project Open Education is simple and direct: Project Open Education's mission is to provide educational services to those needing it. The motivation behind Vijay’s cause came from a couple of books he had recently read. “I read two books, One Day: All Children, and A Chance to Make History, both by Wendy Kopp, and thought about the educational needs of low-income children. I then thought up Project Open Education, an innovative virtual school for low-income children and adults. I looked the idea up, since this was sure to exist. Sure enough, no solution was doing enough.”

As with many startups, Vijay has a strong vision for getting Project Open Education off the ground and for the project’s future. His target audiences include children and adults with financial need, because, as he states, those are the people who may need his services most. His vision is an eventual 64% job placement rate, resulting from the project’s services. The lofty goals for this young project don’t stop there, though. Vijay says, “We will set up non-school services by Q3 2018, or maybe sooner. We plan to set up a small virtual school in parts of Cook County, Illinois, by late Q3 2019. Then we plan to launch in parts of New York City; London, India; and Southern California in Q4-Q3 2019-2020. By Q1 2022, we should be covering most of the U.S. and world.”

Vijay can’t do this alone, though, and he knows he needs some help. When asked what he may need, Vijay responded, “We need almost everything! Programmers, executives, accountants, you name it! If interested, visit https://sites.google.com/view/poedu/home.