
The challenge of preparing K–12 students for rapidly evolving STEM careers requires innovative solutions that go beyond traditional classroom learning. At Oakland Schools, STEM consultants like Phil Kimmel and Kyle Kilpatrick are leading efforts to create impactful experiences that equip students with the skills needed to succeed in an Industry 4.0 world. Their work emphasizes cross-curricular learning, real-world applications, and hands-on engagement to inspire the next generation of problem solvers.
Central to these efforts is the STEMi Mobile Innovation Station, a state-of-the-art mobile lab designed to bring cutting-edge technology—such as autonomous systems and smart manufacturing—directly to students. In response to Oakland Schools’ unique needs and challenges, Quanser developed an innovative technology designed to ensure meaningful engagement across all levels of learning.
Challenge
The STEMi faces a challenge in reaching over 180,000 students across 28 districts with impactful, hands-on STEM experiences. “If we were to focus on just one grade level at a time across all our schools, it would take 11 years,” explains Phil Kimmel, a STEM consultant with Oakland Schools. The program’s goal is to enhance students’ career readiness by fostering critical skills such as complex problem-solving, emotional intelligence, and a strong willingness to learn. “We aim to promote learning agility and the ability to adapt and thrive in complex situations, rather than focusing solely on specific technologies, because technology is always evolving,” Kimmel emphasizes.
To address this challenge, the STEMi program requires a flexible platform that introduces emerging Industry 4.0 technologies—such as collaborative robots, smart manufacturing, self-driving vehicles, and extended reality—in an age-appropriate way that aligns with classroom instruction. This platform must engage students at every grade level, from kindergartners to high schoolers, providing opportunities to explore these advanced technologies firsthand. By doing so, the district aims to bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and real-world application, helping students understand not only how these technologies work but also how they relate to their futures. “The outcome is clear,” says Kimmel. “Students will walk away understanding what they like, what they’re good at, and which career paths match their interests and abilities.”
Solution
For over 30 years, Quanser has been at the forefront of creating cutting-edge technology to bring theory to life in engineering education and research. When Oakland Schools challenged us to provide meaningful, hands-on STEM experiences across all grade levels, we recognized the opportunity to help. They realized that the self-driving car studio, which is used for graduate and undergraduate research, could be extended to all ages, including K-12. Building on that expertise, our R&D team worked closely with Oakland Schools to develop an inventive new solution: STEM Interactive Exhibits.
Our open-architecture ecosystem played a critical role in bringing the STEM Interactive Exhibits to life, offering the flexibility to scale complexity up or down based on the age and skill level of students. “We needed a partner who could take a research-grade platform and make it accessible—even to a third grader,” explained Kyle. By preserving core engineering principles while introducing an intuitive, user-friendly interface, these exhibits seamlessly transition from kindergarten outreach activities to advanced high school explorations, ensuring meaningful engagement across all grade levels.
“At the heart of the STEM Interactive Exhibits is QCar, Quanser 1/10th scale self-driving car, that operates on three color-coded paths—blue, pink, and yellow—representing destinations like going home or visiting school. When the car boots up, it localizes itself, enabling it to ‘know’ its position on the track. Students, working collaboratively in groups, use STEM Software on a tablet to act as “remote drivers,” controlling speed, switching paths, and making decisions. While students provide manual inputs, the QCar retains core autonomous functions, such as obeying traffic lights, avoiding collisions, and staying within track boundaries. This experience has been developed based on Quanser’s framework for intelligent systems: See, Think, Do, and Talk. ” Paul Karam, Chief Robotics Officer at Quanser.
See: Students access a live camera feed from the car’s perspective, observing how it identifies color-coded lanes. A built-in neural network detects signs (e.g., stop signs), illustrating how AI-based decisions involve probabilities rather than binary outcomes. | ![]() |
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Think: A state machine demonstrates how the car determines when and where it’s safe to switch paths. This showcases the structured logic behind autonomy—cars can’t simply change lanes at will; they require valid zones for such actions. | ![]() |
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Think_AI: A built-in neural network detects signs placed around the track—like a stop sign—showing students that AI decisions aren’t purely black or white. Instead, each detection comes with a probability, reflecting real-world uncertainty. This underscores that artificial intelligence often requires additional logic and safeguards to ensure correct, safe actions in autonomous systems. | ![]() |
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Do: This tab focuses on energy and sustainability. Students can adjust speed and acceleration, observing how aggressive driving impacts battery life. This trade-off highlights real-world engineering considerations like energy efficiency and vehicle range. | ![]() |
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Talk: The system interacts with a dynamic traffic light at the track’s center. When multiple cars cluster on one path, the traffic light adjusts its timing to improve flow. Students quickly learn how connected vehicles can reduce congestion significantly | ![]() |
The goal is to demonstrate self-driving cars and show learners that any intelligent system follows a similar process: observing its environment, making decisions, acting on those decisions, and communicating with other systems. Even in a brief 15-minute session, students can explore fundamental concepts like basic sensing (“What color is the lane?”) and more advanced ideas such as neural networks, state machines, and energy optimization. By experiencing autonomy firsthand, students develop a deeper understanding of how technology shapes their world while discovering exciting career possibilities.”
Result
The STEMi Mobile Lab has significantly expanded students’ access to hands-on, career-focused STEM experiences across 28 districts, engaging up to 800 students per week. This scalable model ensures that even a large and diverse district can provide meaningful interactions with autonomous systems, robotics, and AI. For those interested in a deeper dive into the technical details, implementation and outcome of this program, here’s the on-demand webinar Self-Driving Car Lab for STEM Programs, which provides additional insights on adapting these solutions to various educational contexts.
Beyond the impressive numbers, the STEM Interactive Exhibits provide students with a structured way to connect their personal interests to real-world career opportunities. By exploring how a self-driving car operates—its design and modeling (how it looks), its mechanics and problem-solving (how it works), its controls through programming and electronics (how it controls), and its societal impact through service and collaboration (how it helps people)—students reflect on which aspects resonate most with them. The career exploration module builds on this experience by introducing students to career pathways that align with their interests. For example, students intrigued by programming and control systems may explore roles in software development, robotics engineering, or transportation systems design. This approach helps students discover what they enjoy, what they excel at, and how those strengths could guide their future career paths.
Conclusion
Quanser’s STEM Interactive Exhibit demonstrates how advanced technologies can be accessible, engaging, and meaningful for learners of all ages. We invite you to explore this outreach-ready solution and discover how it can enhance your student recruitment efforts, improve your outreach programs, and bring inspiring STEM experiences to K–12 students.