Elizabethtown College Computer Science Students Speak at Lancaster STEM Alliance Seminar

Two Elizabethtown College Computer Science students recently attended the Lancaster STEM Alliance Seminar as guest speakers, where they shared their knowledge and expertise about robotics with local high school students.

Led by Information Systems Program Director & Lecturer Nancy Reddig, Computer Science majors Alexander Fox ’24 and Ethan Lajeunesse ’25 hosted a seminar for the McCaskey High School students about robotics. The two Etown students shared about their recently completed projects, brought some of their robotic equipment to share with the high school students, and assisted them in working with matrices to design a level in a PacMan game.

“Attending the event was a great opportunity for me to share my passion for computer science and inspire high school students to pursue careers in the field,” Fox said. “The most enjoyable aspect of the event for me was seeing the students’ excitement and curiosity during our Pac-Man demonstration. I believe that events like this are important for Etown students to connect with the local community and show them the opportunities that exist in STEM fields.”

Each month, the Lancaster STEM Alliance runs “Bridge to Employment” seminars at McCaskey High School in Lancaster where guest speakers are invited to visit and discuss topics that are of interest to the high school students that are part of the program. When the students requested a seminar on Robotics and Game Development, the director of the program reached out to Etown’s Computer Science Department to find a speaker that could address these topics and provide hands-on learning activities for the students.

During the seminar, Reddig also demonstrated a robotic delivery system designed in software engineering. She taught the students how matrices are used for simulations in computer code and how large complex arrays of data are organized and translated into a user experience.

“The McCaskey students were excited to have the opportunity to learn more about the computer science topics they will be able to study in college,” Reddig said.