WASHINGTON (AURN News) — Howard University’s campus buzzed with activity last week as high school and college students from the Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia region gathered to watch robots and drones in action.
Over two days, students connected with engineers and researchers from Amazon, the U.S. Navy, the Army Research Laboratory, Virginia Tech, and Howard University. They heard about different career paths, asked questions and saw how the technology is being used beyond the classroom.
“We really need our students at the high school level, and probably even younger, to at least recognize that these opportunities are there,” said Kimberly Jones, dean of the College of Engineering and Architecture at Howard University.
“AI is absolutely everywhere — it will touch almost any kind of profession, from health care to computer science. Just about anything you do will be influenced in some way by AI, and probably robotics,” she told AURN News.
Demonstrations ranged from programmable robots rolling across the floor to interactive tech stations that gave students hands-on time with the equipment.
“We teach our students — it’s not just about understanding how AI works,” Jones said. “It’s about asking not just what AI can do, but what it should do. Are we using AI to better society in all communities?”
Federal labor data released in March projects strong growth in tech fields — nearly 18% for software developers between 2023 and 2033, more than 8% for database administrators and about 11% for database architects.
Click play to listen to the AURN News report from Jamie Jackson:
