[ARC5] Interest in "command" sets - where is a new generation?

[Brian]

Hello Les,

Engineers Australia and Australia's Chief Scientist have been concerned 
about young students' move away from science, technology, engineering and 
maths (STEM) for some time.
One particular engineer started up Re-Engineering Australia (REA); look it 
up on the Internet. REA is about getting high school students designing and 
making things and then competing with other high school students around the 
world. So far, these competitions have been F1 in schools, Subs in schools 
and 4WD in schools. The students work in self-selecting teams to build and 
operate model F1 race cars, submarines and all-terrain vehicles. Their work 
is done outside school hours mostly on school premises, facilitated by at 
least one switched-on teacher. The students need to do not only the design 
and building, but also find finance and do their own marketing. I have been 
an adjudicator for a couple of years now. The students' enthusiasm is 
incredible. Unfortunately, the nearest they get to electronics and radio is 
remote control of their submarines and 4WD vehicles.

Perhaps we can suggest a suitable electronics project for REA in schools, 
eg, a software-controlled robot that performs a nominated task and 
communicates via wireless?

A major end effect of REA is the increase in the number of students who 
choose to study engineering, rather than law or needle-point.

73 de Brian, VK2GCE.

On Friday, November 20, 2015 5:19 AM, you asked: - where is the next 
generation of engineers (or hobbyists)?

         <snip>
Now, of course, we can talk around the word for a ten-cent phone call.
We can use Skype to do the same thing for nothing!  Has the PC killed an
interest in radio?  Dare I ask a question,  "Who will continue our
interest in these old radios?"  More than our narrow interest in
"command/ARC-5" radio, who will make the next generation of engineers
and technicians?  This is an interesting question?  Is there some way to
re-kindle interest in radio/electronics?

Les