SOLIDWORKS EDU Supports iSteam Massachusetts Robotics State Championship

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Guest author: Bonny Cao, Mainstream innovation, SOLIDWORKS EDU Ecosystem Senior Specialist

Inspire, Empower, Transform

iSTEAM Academy, a Burlington, MA-based non-profit dedicated to advancing STEAM education, partnered with Vinci STEAM Edu hosted the Massachusetts Robotics State Championship on March 15, 2025, at Lexington High School. The event brought together over 500 students, attendees, and media to celebrate robotics excellence. The winning teams will go to global robotics competitions. The event provided valuable opportunities for industry connections, media exposure, and hands-on STEM experiences, making it an unforgettable celebration of innovation and learning.

Empowering K-12 Education and STEM Innovation with SOLIDWORKS Education & Sponsorship

SOLIDWORKS was invited as the major sponsor and was the only established professional CAD provider selected to participate in the event. We were asked to showcase solutions, products, and programs that support and benefit K–12 students and educators. Our active participation, through the following engagement activities, had a meaningful impact by connecting with students, educators, and robotics experts to:

  • Demonstrate our solutions and product options to support K–12 and STEM education, as well as student competition teams.
  • Gather valuable feedback from students, educators, team coaches, and robotics experts.
  • Build connections with industry professionals and leaders in the STEM community.
  • Promote SOLIDWORKS Apps for Kids (SWA4K) to ensure our products and services continue as an ongoing program.

 

Northeastern University Robotics Team Inspires Future Engineers with SOLIDWORKS

Students from the Northeastern University Robotics Team attended the event to showcase their Drone and VEX projects, inspiring young students by demonstrating how the skills they develop can carry over into their college studies. They also shared how they use SOLIDWORKS to design critical components of their drone model, highlighting the software’s role in their engineering and design process. Farhad and Cassey shared their experiences with SOLIDWORKS. Cassey has already earned his CSWA certification. Although Fiona majors in Computer Science, she learned SOLIDWORKS for it is a valuable skill in robotic design. 

 

Questions from Coaches, Educators, Students and Parents

Most of Saturday was spent answering questions from coaches, educators, students and parents about SOLIDWORKS and our SOLIDWORKS Cloud apps that run on Chrome books and Macs. Coaches were happy they could apply for SOLIDWORKS Student sponsorship for their teams, especially as their designs are getting more complex, parents of home-school children learned about our SOLIDWORKS Student Edition for them to introduce CAD and engineering topics at home.

But the greatest comment of the day was from a shy 12-year-old boy who stated, “How can I get a SOLIDWORKS license?”

His mom explained that he began exploring 3D modeling with our free SOLIDWORKS App for Kids, which sparked his love for CAD. He even stopped his music lessons to focus on it. To encourage him, his parents bought him a 3D printer.

Reflection

SOLIDWORKS EDU continues to support STEM Education organizations and their students with great software tools like SOLIDWORKS CAD for PC (Windows Desktop), SOLIDWORKS xDesign (100% cloud browser-based) and SOLIDWORKS Apps for Kids (browser-based).

Marie’s Comments

For kids ages 4-14 try out free SOLIDWORKS Apps for Kids here.

For SOLIDWORKS Student Team sponsorship, all ages, apply here.

Thank you iSTEAM Academy, for hosting this event.  Thank you to our partner Mass Robotics, for their STEM outreach and support of our SOLIDWORKS Startup program.  And thank you Bonny Cao and SOLIDWORKS EDU for supporting this event.

Design well.  Marie

 

 

Marie Planchard

Marie Planchard

Senior Director, Early Engagement, 3DEXPERIENCE Works at Dassault Systemes
Marie Planchard is an education and engineering advocate. As Senior Director of Education & Early Engagement, SOLIDWORKS, she is responsible for global development of content and social outreach across all levels of learning including educational institutions, Fab Labs, and entrepreneurship.
Marie Planchard

@marieplanchard1