During a sunny Monday afternoon, a crowd of about 75 listened to a mechanical engineering senior discuss how flying robots will give them super powers. But his talk went well beyond how to use drones.
Mechanical engineering senior Michael Olaya discussed how advances in drone technology as well as technology itself can push the creativity of peoples’ minds to bigger heights and how it can impact lives. He began with explaining the importance of priorities as it’s a stepping stone towards working on anything that will have great value in the future. As an adolescent, some things can be looked at with of great importance but those things are not important in the future.
“This thought experiment is really helpful in helping us ask ourselves: What is really important?” Olaya asked the crowd.
Olaya said, “If I could have gone to a time machine and talk to myself when I was 16 years old, what would I tell myself? Generally speaking, I would grab myself and say get your priorities straight. When you’re at this age, there are a lot of things you place a huge importance on. I put so much focus on golf, sports, popularity and this and that. You put a huge emphasis on things that you value but then this weird thing happens. As you get older, those things that you thought were the most important things start to become increasingly irrelevant.”
Olaya emphasized on the importance of technology as without it, the world can’t be the same. People need to participate to become relevant.
Olaya is teaching a workshop on Oct. 14 to go into more detail about the importance of scientific thinking and to teach students about 3D printing and computer aided design.
He said, “We live in a technical world. Everything around us is premised upon technology and science. If all the scientists and engineers are gone, then it fails. If you want to participate in this technical world, if you want to make an impact or even matter in this technical world, you must be a technical person. That is the only way to participate. If not, you won’t be relevant.”
As the crowd was given food for thought, he got into the advances of drone technology by displaying projects as well as tying in social media.
By using successful vlogger Casey Neistat as an example, he said, “He totally embodies drone technology in great ways as he uses it extensively in his videos. He really sets the stage in his vlogs seeing his footage of where he is in space and time as well as what the weather is like and what does the middle of New York City look like. He gives this incredible perspective with this flying robot as the obvious super power here is the ability to fly. Partially because he uses technology in a good way, his audience is massive. He gets 40 million views on YouTube a month.”
Olaya also displayed a project he did with his own drone as he created a 3-D model of the campus itself and as if that wasn’t enough, he showed the astonished audience a movie clip shot straight from a drone.
He insisted that this couldn’t have been done years ago and that people need to utilize this technology and social media as it’s of great importance in our world today.
He said, “Don’t let the technology use you, become the user of technology. Use Facebook not just to infinitely scroll. Use it to collaborate with others. Use these flying robots to create incredible creations that have never been created before. Go where we have never gone or seen before. You are the ones that will be able to do it.”
Students and other attendees left Social Media Day with a new sense of courage and excitement to be actively involved in their community through social media and technology.
Alejandro Cervantez, Hirschi High School junior, said, “I learned to not really focus on your past, but focus on your future and what is in front of you. Let the little accomplishments make you feel encouraged.”
Some students even left the event with new insight on how they can utilize their social media presence for potential job opportunities.
“I wanted to see how I could improve my social media skills and get my brand out there. I learned about LinkedIn. I had no clue that even existed. If I could learn to use that, I could get my name out there and get business opportunities,” said Terry Clouse, Harrold High School senior.
Additional reporting by Tyler Manning.
Social Media Day 17
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