Igor

During middle school, Igor had his first encounter with educational robotics. At that moment, he realized that robotics goes beyond technology; it also encourages an interest in science, teamwork, critical thinking, and solving the problems in society. Seeing that many of his schoolmates were not familiar with science and technology, Igor created an initiative to educate and engage young people in this field. Black Gold is an independent garage robotics team that spreads knowledge of educational robotics and digital inclusion among students in public schools. They achieve this through workshops, lectures, organizing teams to participate in tournaments, and implementing educational robotics in state schools.

Igor formed a team with six people directly involved in managing Black Gold, divided between those responsible for operationalizing the actions and those handling the project administration. Additionally, there are three ambassadors who previously participated in Black Gold activities and are now expanding the initiative in their own cities. The leadership is democratic: everyone feels like authors of the project, contributing with ideas, participating in decisions, and taking responsibility for implementation. In its three years of existence, Black Gold has achieved many accomplishments: they established a partnership with the local government, which provides space, internet access, and all the necessary infrastructure for team activities; they have engaged 80 students in various activities, expanded their reach to three cities, and are supporting around 24 schools across the state in preparing for the Brazilian Robotics Olympiad.

Igor aims to be a catalyst for change so that everyone can live in a state of social equity and have equal opportunities, including access to the world of science and technology.