Sponsorships

BECOME  A SPONSOR

What is a Sponsorship?

Robotics And Beyond has a long list of projects, programs, events and workshops that are highly effective in their approach and for the young people and adults who participate as students and mentors. However, these offerings are vastly under-scheduled and under-utilized due to the cost to implement and cost to the students. Costs of operations are another monumental challenge even though we have tremendous volunteer support.

Sponsorship entails funding of a topic or event to cover all or part of the costs of preparation and instruction, and enabling partly or fully-paid tuition for needful students to put the topic within reach of many individuals. Most topics can also be co-sponsored by one or more supporters at a reduced cost to each.

All topics and their content are designed to be as relevant as possible to careers and the education paths towards those careers.  Sponsorship enables the development of deeper levels of content to help students progress farther into their topics of choice, often reaching the level of workplace and college-level understanding and skill. Robotics And Beyond has learned how to do this with great success while keeping the topics fun and engaging for the students.

Sponsorship also enables topics to be scheduled more frequently and thereby reach more of the population.

Sponsors are not required to be involved with the design of the projects or programs but are welcomed to contribute ideas for specific projects, and information including project software and hardware involved and the specific applications and examples used in the topics.

Benefits to sponsors include

  • Recognition based on business model
  • Familiarization of the community and region with the sponsoring business or organization
  • Opportunity for sponsor employees to help design the projects and classes and serve as instructors or assistants if desired
  • A source of highly motivated candidates for internships and part time or summer jobs with skills specifically needed by the sponsor, as well as a source of long-term skilled employees

How is a Sponsorship started?

Starting a sponsorship begins with contacting Robotics And Beyond to learn more about opportunities (see examples listed below) or to suggest another idea that a sponsor would like to support.

Save

SEE RECENT SPONSORS

United Way of Coastal and Western Connecticut, BuiltRight Industries, The Silo at Hunt Hill Farm, MVPSOS, Fat City Screen Printing and Embroidery, Ellen Knowles Harcourt Foundation, Waterbury Women's Club, Holland Family Foundation, Chris LaCava Coldwell Banker, Mannkind, Give Local Individual Donors

SPONSORSHIP EXAMPLES
  • Robotics 
    • Equipment and software maintenance and upgrades for all robotics efforts in general and project design and equipment for advanced levels in robotics.
    • Tuition support to lower the cost of robotics classes and enable greater attendance by students with financial need.
  • Students with special learning needs:  We have had tremendous results working with students with special learning needs and behaviors such as exhibited by individuals with mild to strong autism, Aspergers syndrome, obsessive and compulsive, Tourettes and ADHD. In a given year, we address 20-30 such students but only a handful to a deeper level.  With proper support we can make a life-changing difference to many more individuals and their families.
    • After school enrichment and training program for grades 3-12, 12 weeks, 2 hrs. / week, Fall and Winter/Spring sessions.
    • One-on-one mentoring for development of career skills in design and technology.
    • Support for a part-time Special Education coordinator to professional on our staff to work with students and to increase our collaboration with more towns, schools and agencies.
    • Reading Shelf: Help us provide hard copies of important books and other reference materials that help parents to support and understand their children's needs and abilities.
  • Tuition assistance pool:
    • Growth of a pool of tuition assistance funds to enable greater reach to financially disadvantaged families. Assistance is normally applied for to us directly but we want to provide coupons to social service organizations and other groups to make available to appropriate students and families.
  • Promotion of STEM, design and coding for girls:
    • Girls-only Coding Night events
    • Tuition assistance for after-school and weekend workshops and classes
    • Expanding our network of women professionals and mentors in fields of STEM and design.
  • Circuit design and fabrication:
    • Project design and instruction based around circuit fundamentals, soldering skills, circuit design software and fabrication methods from bench-top to industrial scale.
  • Electronics and Microcontrollers:
    • Project design, material costs and instruction of topics involving industrial and hobby-level microcontrollers and their use in robotics and other electrical and electromechanical systems.
  • Computer science:
    • Coding: support of any one or more languages or applications of programming suiting the sponsor’s interests; Python, Web development (HTML/CSS/PHP/JavaScript), Java, C, Wolfram/Mathmatica, and others.
    • Computer hardware: materials and instruction to teach fundamentals of computer hardware and operating systems, including designing and building desktop computers, identifying and repairing hardware and software problems, prevention and removal of malware, proper internet safety and cyber security.
    • Microcomputers and operating systems:  Project design and materials for systems based on the Raspberry Pi microcomputers and their open-source operating systems.
  • 3D Modeling and mechanical design:
    • Software for modeling designs in 3 dimensions (CAD) and fabrication by 3D printing, fundamentals of machine programming and CNC machining career skills.
  • Graphic design:
    • Software, course design and instruction using career-relevant software for original artwork and design of publications or use in video animations or other digital media applications.
  • Game design:
    • Course design and instruction of game theory and use of industry tools for video animation and game design, career perspective from professionals, education path perspective from current college students.
  • Summer camp sponsorships:
    • Provide partial or full tuition for a student wanting to attend our week long summer camps but unable to due to financial hardship.
  • After-school STEM and Design program:
    • Provide tuition assistance or instructor and materials support for our excellent after-school program, and allow us to increase attendance and depth of projects.
  • K-3 STEM and design program:
    • After-school, weekend and holiday programs designed for Kindergarten to 3rd grade students.
  • Architecture and functional design:
    • Support the materials and software needed to introduce students to the world of architectural design, functional design and the intersection of art and technology.
  • Aviation, flight and space travel:
    • Support materials, software and instruction in the many aspects of flight and aviation and space travel using effective simulation software, hands-on mechanical projects and perspective provided by professionals working in these fields.
  • Support of operations:
    • Become a sustaining sponsor by helping us to cover the costs of facilities and the many overhead and administrative costs we are faced with.