Integrated STEM-CS Learning Group
UNLV Saturday STEM Students Named Nevada State Winners in Presidential AI Challenge
A team of elementary school students who participated in the UNLV Saturday STEM Program in fall 2025 has been recognized as a Nevada State Winner in the Presidential AI Challenge, Elementary Category Track II (Technical/Implementation).
Mentored by Metehan Zorluoglu (Electrical and Computer Engineering), Dilara Kara-Zorluoglu (Teaching and Learning), and Dr. Hasan Deniz (Teaching and Learning), elementary school students Vasili Moseley, Tasheni Kamanga, and Joshua Scott developed a Smart Parking System — a project that uses AI and sensor-based technologies to detect incorrect parking and improve overall parking efficiency. Their project was selected from more than 2,500 submissions nationwide, earning recognition as one of only 328 state-level winners. The team has since advanced to the Regional Competition, where they presented to a panel of judges during a live Zoom session on March 27, 2026, competing alongside other state champions. Results from the next stage of the competition are pending.
The students' success grew out of a six-week Saturday STEM course titled "Integrating Engineering, Robotics, and AI for STEM Learning," which introduced students to emerging technologies through hands-on, project-based experiences. The course was taught by center director Dr. Hasan Deniz (Teaching and Learning), Ph.D. candidate Dilara Kara-Zorluoglu (Teaching and Learning), and M.S. candidate Metehan Zorluoglu (Electrical and Computer Engineering). Over six weeks, students developed foundational knowledge in computer science and artificial intelligence while gaining hands-on experience integrating AI with hardware components such as sensors, microcontrollers, and LEDs to design and build functional smart systems.
The course content was developed through a collaborative National Science Foundation grant titled "Cultivating Artificial Intelligence Literacy through Linguistically Inclusive Integrated Elementary Curriculum via Educational Robotics" (PI: Hasan Deniz, UNLV; Co-PIs: Erdogan Kaya, University of Texas at Arlington; Ezgi Yesilyurt, Utah State University; and Refika Turgut, University of South Carolina Upstate).
Following the course, interested students were invited to join a four-week workshop offering structured mentorship and support as they were guided through the engineering design process to develop their competition projects.
This achievement highlights the impact of early exposure to STEM and AI education and demonstrates how structured mentorship and hands-on learning can empower young students to innovate and succeed at a national level. The Saturday STEM Program, administered by the UNLV Center for Mathematics, Science, and Engineering Education, continues to foster the next generation of scientists, engineers, and problem-solvers through engaging, real-world learning experiences.
