Future By Design: From robotics to racing and medicine, Keystone’s student-led STEM clubs are building more than machines—they’re building futures.

Keystone Academy students explore the many of the school’s vibrant and creative spaces as a testing ground for their academic and personal endeavors. In these locations, student groups not only learn but explore their capabilities and collaborative skills, often to many great ends. One of such team is the Keystone First Robotics Competition (FRC) Robotics Club, who’ve used school facilities to realize their exploratory projects with guidance with Keystone’s expert teachers.

The three-year-old club is, in many senses, young and fresh. They’re run by students, and their aspirations cover the impressive visions of the future of these young people. Despite that, they’ve become Keystone’s first official team to participate in the FRC and other robotics competitions. They may be young, but the experiences they’ve gained so far in exploring and creating robotics have taken root and continue to inspire many other Keystonians.

How do the Keystone FRC Robotics club members turn their passion into action? How did they transform seemingly insurmountable challenges into unforgettable experiences? Their members tell us more in following special feature, which also previews an extensive series on the Keystone Activities Program (KAP) for the upcoming edition of The Keystone Magazine.

The Basement as a Robotics “Base”

In the basement of the Secondary School academic building, there is a classroom that doubles as a robotics “base”. Once classes end, students like William Dai, Ted Zhang, Derek Han, and Isabella Wang gather there.

It was in this very room, back in ninth grade, that they built their first robot. Today, Dai and Zhang are fixtures in the space, often staying two or three hours after school. During competition season, the team spends more than 40 hours a week in their workshop.

In March 2025, tenth-graders William Dai, Ted, Derek, and Isabella traveled to Shanghai with their robots to compete in the 2025 FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) Shanghai International Regional. They competed against 43 teams and nearly a thousand young contestants from China, the United States, Australia, and other countries.

For William Dai and his teammates, this was already their third FRC in just two years—the first was in Sydney, the second in Beijing. Looking back, their journey began with little more than curiosity and determination. To build their first robot, they taught themselves mechanical engineering concepts usually reserved for university students. They learned programming, pored over online resources, and debated endlessly about the best robot design. William Dai even spent months developing the programming framework for their first chassis.

The process was grueling, challenging, frustrating, and at times discouraging. Yet the moment their first robot came to life, they knew they wanted to keep building together.

In 2023, a group of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) enthusiasts at Keystone founded the Forté 10558” FRC Robotics KAP. Every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, members gather in the school to design, code, and assemble their robots, proudly representing Keystone on the FRC stage.

The robot-building process feels almost magical. Once the mechanical team finalizes a 3D model, the outlines of a chassis, lifting arm, gripping mechanism, and sensor layout begin to take shape on the screen. The team then virtually assembles the robot, running preliminary simulations and checking for conflicts. That digital vision soon becomes reality as students fire up the classroom’s tools—3D printers, laser cutters, lathes, and milling machines—to produce parts, which they then carefully wire and assemble.

It is a process of constant trial and error. Some parts fail quality checks and must be refined; circuits glitch; sensors misalign. But once the programming team takes over, writing the code that gives the robot its “soul,” the long hours and frustrations feel worthwhile. From start to finish, each robot takes nearly two months to complete. And while the competitions matter, the students say the real reward lies in the creative process itself.

“Our team is made up of students who are passionate about STEM,” William Dai said. “Several of us are in the classroom almost every day, running experiments and building machines. We also collaborate on small projects and learn from exchanges with other teams. That’s what helps us keep growing.”

So far, the Keystone team has built three robots. Compared with many established FRC teams, they are still newcomers. But in just two years, members say they have made tremendous strides not only in technical skills but also in resilience, problem-solving, and teamwork.

For their mentor, Jacob Kouassy, watching this growth has been rewarding. The students’ presence in his classroom has become routine, even outside the FRC season.

“Through this student-led project, the team continues to develop exploration, innovation, and teamwork skills, while also expanding their inclusiveness and impact,” Mr. Kouassy said. “They are fully committed, and I’ve seen their sense of responsibility grow alongside their engineering, project management, and team-building abilities.”

Perhaps most importantly, they have established Keystone’s first official school team to compete at the FRC level. The seeds of innovation they planted are already taking root, ensuring that robotics at Keystone will continue to grow in the years to come.

STEM-Powered Students

The hum of machinery in the robotics base is just one sound in Keystone’s thriving world of STEM. While the FRC team spends long afternoons in the workshop, other students are leading their peers into equally fascinating fields of science and engineering—sometimes with nothing more than a whiteboard marker in hand.

“Electric potential… concentration,” Kevin Zheng explained, standing at the podium and sketching diagrams across the whiteboard.

In the rows of desks before him, classmates leaned forward, listening as his lively metaphors turned complex ideas into moments of sudden clarity.

This was a session of the Advanced University Medical Knowledge KAP, co-led by tenth-graders Kevin and Howard Zhang, who together guide students into the “mysterious” world of medicine.

On Monday afternoons, for example, the F1 Racing Technology Club transforms the design classroom into a pit lane. Under the guidance of tenth-grader Leo Jiang, students study the principles of a four-stroke engine, explore aerodynamics, and even 3D print a V6 engine model for assembly. In another corner of the school, the Engineering Club, led by tenth-graders Claire Yan and Isabella Wang, introduces middle schoolers to programming and robot assembly, sparking an early love of engineering in younger students.

This is the learning culture Keystone has built beyond its classrooms: a place where curiosity travels freely across grades, and where older students share knowledge and inspiration with younger ones.

For Kevin, medicine has been a calling since Grade 6, when he first taught himself biology and chemistry. His collaboration with Howard in Grade 10 brought that passion to life through the creation of their medical KAP. Yet Kevin says his goal is not only to teach information, but to pass on a way of thinking.

“Studying biology is learning a way of thinking,” he explained. “Life exists in a dynamic balance, and a single cause doesn’t always lead to a single result. Medicine is the same: you analyze underlying symptoms through surface observations. Diagnosis requires considering multiple possibilities, not jumping to conclusions. This process of analysis and association is what I call clinical thinking.”

Hearing such reflections, it’s easy to forget Kevin is only in Grade 10. Yet what makes his leadership even more remarkable is his commitment to sharing these ideas with others.

Keystone’s student-led KAPs reflect this spirit of exploration. Whether it’s racing engines, building robots, or simulating medical practice, students set ambitious goals for themselves and others, always pushing further.

Looking ahead, the leaders already see ways to expand. Leo hopes to bring more hands-on learning into the Racing Club. Kevin plans to expand the Medical Knowledge KAP into a larger club, featuring lectures and health awareness campaigns. William Dai envisions the Robotics Club opening its doors to the wider community, demonstrating how STEM can be exciting and approachable.

At Keystone, these young innovators are not just consuming knowledge; they are creating new pathways for others to follow—proof that the journey of discovery is most powerful when shared.

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For the robotics team, ideas don’t stay sketches on a screen for long. After 3D modeling and virtual assembly, the FRC members move into production—using the school’s array of 3D printers, laser cutters, lathes, and milling machines. And in the new semester, Keystone will add a machine for processing complex metal parts, allowing the team to manufacture almost every component of their robots on campus.

These facilities are not limited to robotics. Across campus, students work in a digital learning center, multimedia rooms, science labs, and design studios. For anyone eager to explore STEM, the resources are abundant and within reach.

That reach will soon extend even further. In the upcoming academic year, Keystone will launch the Transdisciplinary Studies in Engineering Technology (TSET), a new program under the leadership of Taryn Loveman, Assistant Head of School for Teaching and Learning. Chris Hansen, Dean of Teaching and Learning Center (TLC) – Emergent Technology & Engineering. With experience building interdisciplinary engineering and technology programs at Harvard University and MIT, Mr. Hansen brings fresh energy and vision to Keystone’s STEM initiatives.

For students, the experience is remarkable. William Dai recalls a moment when his father said, “I’m actually a little jealous! If I’d had these facilities in middle school, I would have slept in the lab.”

But resources at Keystone go beyond machines and space. Teachers provide not only expertise but also emotional support, investing extra time to create a safe and encouraging environment. As William Dai reflected:

I’ve always felt that Keystone provides some of the best learning resources in the country. But it wasn’t until I began experimenting, conducting research, and writing papers that I realized how far it goes. It’s far beyond my imagination! I’ve read that university professors often need to apply for funding and permissions before starting experiments. At Keystone, all we need is an idea—and suddenly we have over 800 square meters of space. That contrast makes it clear: if a student here has curiosity and perseverance, the school will help turn ideas into reality.

This culture of support fuels not only innovation but also continuity. As the FRC’s core members transition into the Diploma Programme, they are preparing younger students to inherit the team. In KAP sessions, William Dai and Ted guide newcomers through essential skills, ensuring the next generation is ready for larger challenges.

The team, whose core members have already entered the Diploma Programme (DP) phase in high school, is also documenting its journey for posterity. They have borrowed video equipment from the Digital and Innovative Learning Department to record their robot-building process—planning a library of 50 to 60 videos to upload to their YouTube channel. Meanwhile, Ted has authored a technical manual detailing the robot’s structure, materials, and design choices—resources that will guide future FRC members.

That sense of legacy runs deep. Clem Long, one of the earliest founders of Keystone’s FRC KAP, will graduate this year. William Dai and Ted grew under his mentorship, and now they are passing the baton in turn. The spirit of nurturing successors—mentoring while creating—is part of Keystone’s DNA. It is what ensures that innovation will not only flourish here today but continue to thrive tomorrow.

During the 2024 FRC season, as the Keystone robotics team built their practice court, Derek Han and William Hu carved their heights onto a wooden plank. A year later, when the team rebuilt the court for the new season and brought out that same plank, the two students stood beside it once again. Both had grown noticeably taller.

The moment drew quiet smiles from everyone. For Ted, it captured something deeper than a playful tradition.

“That little height mark not only records their physical growth,” he said, eyes bright. “It also becomes a reminder of how much we’ve all grown together—as a team, and as individuals. On this journey of chasing our robotics dreams, we’ve been learning, building, and improving side by side.”

It was a simple wooden plank, yet it told the story of Keystone’s robotics team: a story of persistence, mentorship, and discovery. And just like the lines etched year after year, their progress will continue to rise.