A Molokai robotics coach has been inducted into the STEM Hall of Fame. Edwin Mendija has been teaching robotics for 15 years, mostly on a volunteer basis.
Mendija said he was first shocked, then excited, when he found out he had received the international honor.
“Really stoked about it, you know, the only other people I know that have this award from Hawaii are well-respected educators here in the state,” Mendija told HPR. “And this award has only about like five to eight people inducted every year from around the planet. It's really a cool honor to have.”
He is one of several inductees from Hawai'i, and the first from Moloka'i.
“His leadership has opened doors for many Moloka'i students to travel, see the world, and experience life-changing opportunities,” read Mendija’s award description from the Robotics Education and Competition Foundation, the presenting organization. “As a leader in the robotics community, his leadership and example empowers students across the island to learn to work with one another, to be great teammates, and to share the best of Moloka'i and Hawai'i with the rest of the world. He is more than a robotics coach; he is a mentor, community builder, and a catalyst for opportunity. He is a steady presence, and the reason many students from Molokai discovered confidence, belonging, and a belief in what is possible.”
Mendija’s passion for robotics began when he himself was in high school. He had planned to pursue a career in healthcare. But in his senior year, he joined a competition robotics program — the first year it was offered on Moloka'i — and he was hooked.
He began leading the program shortly after he graduated.
“It's been a long grind every year, you know, learning new things,” he said. “The hardest part is just getting the funding to do what we need to. On top of equipment cost, parts, tools, of course, we're flying off island, and we know how much that costs, and then having to get rental cars, lodging on top of whatever registration costs we got to pay for. Travel cost-wise, we probably spend the most out of any team in Hawaiʻi, you know, just to be able to compete a few times a year.”
But, he said, it’s worth the investment.
“At the end of the day, it's opportunities for our students,” Mendija said. “The skills that they learn doing it — they learn the mindset of an engineer. For me, that was what changed my career outlook.”
Now, he has led his student teams to national and international competitions, where they’ve won top recognition. And many of his students have gone on to their own careers in science, technology and engineering fields.
