{"id":39144,"date":"2025-10-29T16:43:42","date_gmt":"2025-10-29T21:43:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/hic\/?p=39144"},"modified":"2025-11-03T16:56:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-03T21:56:10","slug":"rastic-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/hic\/2025\/10\/29\/rastic-news\/","title":{"rendered":"From Classroom to Creation: How RASTIC Fuels Student Innovation in Robotics"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-start=\"0\" data-end=\"544\"><em>By Mia Kne\u017eevi\u0107, CISE Staff<\/em><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"0\" data-end=\"544\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/eng\/academics\/teaching-and-innovation\/rastic\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Robotics &amp; Autonomous Systems Teaching and Innovation Center (RASTIC)<\/a> at Boston University has rapidly become a hub for hands-on robotics innovation and education. Established in 2022 through a nearly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cise\/cise-awarded-8-8m-bu-rastic-award\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">$9 million partnership<\/a> between the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative and BU, the 2,000-square-foot lab officially opened in 2024 under the leadership of Hariri Institute Faculty Affiliate <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/eng\/profile\/kenn-sebesta\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Dr. Kenneth Sebesta<\/a>. Its mission is to empower students to design, build, and test real-world robotic systems\u2014preparing them to lead in the fast-growing robotics industry.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment39151\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment39151\" style=\"width: 173px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/hic\/files\/2025\/10\/Kenn-Sebesta-Headshot-1-600x600-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"163\" height=\"163\" class=\" wp-image-39151\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/hic\/files\/2025\/10\/Kenn-Sebesta-Headshot-1-600x600-1.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/hic\/files\/2025\/10\/Kenn-Sebesta-Headshot-1-600x600-1-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/hic\/files\/2025\/10\/Kenn-Sebesta-Headshot-1-600x600-1-189x189.jpg 189w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/hic\/files\/2025\/10\/Kenn-Sebesta-Headshot-1-600x600-1-100x100.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 163px) 100vw, 163px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment39151\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kenn Sebesta, Founding Director of RASTIC, Senior Lecturer (ENG)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p data-start=\"546\" data-end=\"999\">RASTIC has evolved into a vibrant community where students collaborate day and night on creative projects, earning recognition both within and beyond BU. The Center\u2019s \u201cRASTIC Certified\u201d microcredential program offers bronze, silver, and gold certifications to help students build skills in AI, automation, and design, while award-winning projects like a chess-playing robotic arm highlight the Center\u2019s commitment to innovation and mentorship. <span>Currently, RASTIC<\/span><span>\u00a0supports 70+ robotics students and 250 students. The Center\u2019s two main sponsors are\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.asml.com\/en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ASML<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aboutamazon.com\/news\/tag\/robotics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Amazon Robotics<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1001\" data-end=\"1369\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\">Looking ahead, RASTIC plans to expand student engagement with initiatives like \u201cRobotics Facebook,\u201d an idea guide for new builders, and an annual showcase of student projects. As Dr. Sebesta puts it, RASTIC is \u201cstudent-forward,\u201d fostering creativity, teamwork, and technical excellence in robotics.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1001\" data-end=\"1369\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\">Learn more about RASTIC in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cise\/build-teach-learn-workspace-how-rastic-has-become-a-hub-for-robotics-innovation-among-students\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">this CISE story<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Mia Kne\u017eevi\u0107, CISE Staff The Robotics &amp; Autonomous Systems Teaching and Innovation Center (RASTIC) at Boston University has rapidly become a hub for hands-on robotics innovation and education. Established in 2022 through a nearly $9 million partnership between the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative and BU, the 2,000-square-foot lab officially opened in 2024 under the leadership [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10316,"featured_media":39150,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11814,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/hic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39144"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/hic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/hic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/hic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10316"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/hic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39144"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/hic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39144\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39153,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/hic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39144\/revisions\/39153"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/hic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/hic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/hic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/hic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}