The History of SystemsGo
SystemsGo began firing up high school students with its innovative approach to learning Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) in 1996 at Fredericksburg High School, in Fredericksburg, Texas.
Teacher Brett Williams, a graduate of Texas A&M University and founder of SystemsGo, believed there was a better way to educate and motivate students to become tomorrow’s innovators. Drawing on his training in the sciences and his work in the private sector, he laid the foundation for the program in his Principles of Technology class. With administrative and community support, Williams’s students began designing, building and launching rockets.
The classroom experience guided students through hands-on research, as well as design and development instruction within the engineering and technology disciplines.
Through successes and failures, students picked up valuable life skills such as problem solving, testing, analysis, documentation, reporting, project management, teamwork, and communication.
Now, SystemsGo, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization formed in 2004, provides sequenced engineering curriculum to high schools in Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Oklahoma and Abu Dhabi. The program introduces students to R&D and engineering skills while challenging them to design and build rockets for testing at one of four regional launch events. At the highest level, students design and build rockets for testing at White Sands Missile Range.
The rockets are awesome and encouraging students to explore the boundaries of space is fantastic, but the real goal is to encourage students to expand their own boundaries as they launch themselves to become tomorrow’s innovators.