Coding for speed: Stouffville launches STEM Speed Challenge

Project will engage local school students to build a real-life functioning speed detector for streets in town

Yorkregion.com
Aug. 2, 2023
Simon Martin

Coding might seem like an odd solution to solve speeding in Stouffville, but don’t tell that to Moe Dafer. The owner of Code Ninjas in Stouffville believes coding could be part of an innovative fix for the town.

“People are always complaining about speeding,” Dafer said.

The Town of Stouffville along with Code Ninjas Stouffville announced the launch of the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) Speed Challenge earlier this summer. It is an innovative project aimed at promoting coding and road safety in Stouffville.

“This project will provide an opportunity for students to apply their STEM knowledge to solve a real-world problem while promoting safe driving habits,” Dafer said.

The STEM Speed Challenge is a two-part project designed to engage students from different schools in STEM learning and coding through a fun and interactive competition. The project aligns with the Ontario curriculum’s emphasis on coding and computational thinking skills, and aims to support the development of these skills in students from diverse backgrounds.

The first part of the challenge invites students to apply their STEM knowledge to build a miniversion of a speed detector. The second part takes it to the next level, where top students from the first part will collaborate to build a real-life functioning speed detector for the streets in town.

Dafer was inspired by a speed camera lottery concept, which had trials in Sweden, where a lucky motorist who obeyed the speed limit received a monetary reward partially funded by those who were caught speeding.

Dafer said teams will use their STEM knowledge to design and build a system that can detect the speed of passing cars and reward drivers who follow the speed limit with a positive message. The system will be built using DIY components, small robots, security cameras and other related technologies.

He said he is hoping the project will promote more coding opportunities in the classroom as he sees it as a part of the curriculum that is currently underserved.

Championed by Ward 6 Coun. Sue Sherban, the Town of Stouffville and Code Ninjas Stouffville invite all local schools to participate in the STEM Speed

Challenge in the fall semester of the next academic year. The project will provide students with the opportunity to apply their STEM knowledge in a practical setting, promote teamwork and collaboration, and make a positive impact on our community.

“We are thrilled to launch this initiative that promotes STEM learning and also addresses road safety,” said Sherban. “We believe that this project will offer several benefits, including practical STEM learning, teamwork and social impact.”

“We are excited to engage in partnerships like this where education and learning is at the forefront of community building,” said Mayor Iain Lovatt.

The wining team will receive a monetary prize that will go to the school, Dafer said.

Earlier this year, Stouffville got its first taste of a speed camera on Ninth Line and it’s part of York Region’s long-term vision for reducing speeding. The region is expanding the program rapidly during the next four years with two additional speed enforcement cameras this year, and 60 more planned for between 2024 and 2026 as well as 15 more red-light cameras.

Sherban said the speed cameras are great, but because they are only put on regional roads at the moment, they do little to help speeding issues on local roads like Hoover Park Drive. “The speed that happens on our smaller streets is unrealistic,” she said.

Lovatt said the town would be interested in expanding automated speed enforcement within the region in the future to try address concerns about local roads. The matter was put forward to be considered as part of the 2024 budget.