In a single sentence, “I like robots,” 14-year-old Noe Valdez, an eighth grade student at Mesa’s Carson Junior High School, summed up his reason for joining 29 other students for a year-round informal learning odyssey into space exploration and other exploits focused on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The after- school and summer program, presented by Arizona State University (ASU) in collaboration with Mesa Public Schools and several community partners, introduces middle school students like Valdez and other youth to the demanding STEM disciplines, and the romantic pursuit of robotics, which fascinated philosophers and scientists even before Greek mathematician Archytas built a mechanical steam-powered bird in 350 B.C. more