Here’s a chance to help out The Creator Program, an Atlantic Canadian initiative that could benefit the ecosystem in the region.

Our daughter Cat Adalay has initiated this program for young teens in the Halifax area, starting in St. Margaret’s Bay. The program is teaching coding, the design and assembly of electronic circuits, and 3D design and 3D printing.

Cat has entered The Creator Program in the Great Big Gigabot Giveaway competition, an international contest that is assessing ventures that are using 3D printers for a social good. She needs all our help because the judging is based in part on public voting. You can vote by clicking here.

Cat, who runs Adalay3D, came up with the curriculum because she believes these skills can provide the basic knowledge students need to create their own hardware prototypes.

In creating the program, Cat was inspired by the maker, open-source and entrepreneurial movements, which she sees as fulfilling vital roles in our rapidly changing society.

She sees the Creator Program as providing much-needed technological education. She hopes the program’s students will be empowered to create their own startups and join what she calls the Creator Movement.  

“The philosophy that the Creator Movement embodies is important for everyone in this region, not just the entrepreneurial and maker communities,” Cat said. “We are not prepared for the incoming technological upheaval.

“Humans Need Not Apply states that 45 per cent of human jobs may be lost to automated systems and Deloitte Canada claims only 13 per cent of the country’s largest companies are well prepared for this change.”

Cat is working with several partners to expand the Creator Program, which is currently 12 weeks old. While the program will continue to educate teens in technology, she plans to enhance the curriculum and teach a professional version of the same subject matter to young adults.

In the last 12 weeks, Cat has had many conversations with regional groups and educational institutions about working together to deliver a commercial version of the Creator Program.   

This video clearly shows the impact The Creator Program is having on these 11-to 14-year-old students.

Please check out the video and vote by clicking the thumbs up sign at the top right (once you’ve already clicked on the Creator Program entry). The deadline for voting is Saturday night – Yes, TOMORROW – so please vote immediately.

Even if you dismiss this as the bluster of two proud parents, you have to agree that Cat is doing great work with these kids. And winning the Great Big Gigabot Giveaway would be a real shot in the arm for the maker/creator/entrepreneurial community in the region.