CREST Innovation Program · Do It Lab, American University of Sharjah

Build a robot.
Train its AI brain.

Five sessions at a real innovation lab. Your child builds a robot, trains the AI model that drives it, defends the project before a panel, and earns the CREST Bronze Award from the British Science Association, recognised by universities worldwide.

NEXT BATCH · SEPTEMBER · SATURDAYS · ENROLLING NOW
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Ages 11–17 · Grades 6–12 · Weekend and holiday intensive formats · English & Arabic support

Delivered through Junkbot’s CREST Accredited Resource (Bronze Level), British Science Association.

CREST Accredited Resource · British Science Association 4.9/5 parent rating AUS campus partner 200+ internships placed 100,000+ students trained

Choose your batch

Weekend batches and holiday intensives

The same five session arc, two ways to take it: five Saturdays in a row, or five straight days in the school holidays. Same project, same showcase, same CREST Bronze Award.

WEEKEND

October Weekend

Saturdays · 10 Oct to 7 Nov
09:00 to 14:00

  • 5 Saturday sessions
  • Both tracks running
  • Industry day mid batch

30 seats per track

WEEKEND

November Weekend

Saturdays · 14 Nov to 12 Dec
09:00 to 14:00

  • 5 Saturday sessions
  • Both tracks running
  • Showcase before winter break

30 seats per track

HOLIDAY INTENSIVE

Winter Intensive

Mon to Fri daily
15–19 Dec or 22–26 Dec

  • 5 consecutive days
  • Full immersion format
  • Same award, one week

30 seats per track per week

Two tracks, one award

Pick the challenge that fits your child

Both tracks run the same five session arc at the Do It Lab and end in the same place: a defended project, a showcase, and a CREST Bronze Award submission.

TRACK A

AI Rescue Robots

GRADES 6–8 · ROBOTICS + AI

Build a rescue robot, then train a real AI model on your own data and put it in charge: the robot learns to recognise what it sees and decide how to respond.

  • Train an image classifier on data the team collects, then test and improve its accuracy
  • Sensors, controllers and AI decisions working together on real hardware
  • AI is the brain, the robot is the body: rules versus learning, experienced first hand
  • Timed rescue-course runs and a panel demonstration
TRACK B

Beat the Machine: The Maths of AI

GRADES 9–12 · MATHS + AI

Take a real prediction problem, model it mathematically by hand, then train a machine learning model on the same data, and find out who predicts better, and why.

  • The mathematics inside machine learning: regression, optimisation, error and loss
  • Train and evaluate a real ML model: accuracy, overfitting and bias, measured on your own data
  • Cryptography and game theory, applied not abstract
  • A Bronze portfolio built to university-facing standard: human model versus machine, defended

The five session arc

Every session builds on the last

Weekend batches run one session per Saturday; the winter intensive runs one per day. Same arc either way.

Foundations

Teams form, the challenge brief lands, first build or model begins. CREST project registered.

Systems + AI

Track A trains its AI model on team-collected data; Track B builds its model by hand and trains an ML rival on the same data. The project starts working.

Industry day

Sheraa startup hub, the AUS Electronics Lab, and SRTIP’s SoiLab fabrication floor.

Iterate

Test, refine, prove the improvement. Pitch preparation begins.

Showcase

Demos and defences before a founder panel. Awards, and the internship shortlist.

What’s included

More than a course

Founder mentor talks

Working founders from the 1trepreneur community and startup experts from the Sheraa network, every session.

Industry day

Inside a real startup hub, a university electronics lab and a national innovation park, with Junkbot coaches for the transfers.

Real AI, not videos about AI

Both tracks train working models on their own data. Track A deploys a classifier on a robot; Track B pits a machine learning model against its own hand-built mathematics.

All kits and materials

Robotics kits, AI training tools, project laptops, materials and morning snacks and water, all provided.

CREST Bronze registration

Registration, session-by-session evidence logging and submission handled for every student. Certificates within four weeks.

Showcase for parents

A final-session panel showcase parents attend, with awards presented in person.

Internship shortlist

Top performers are shortlisted for structured internships with 1trepreneur startups and Junkbot teams.

In good company

Partners and the ecosystem behind the programme

The programme runs inside a real innovation ecosystem: accredited by a national science body, hosted on a university campus, and connected to the startup community your child will meet.

The award

What is a CREST Award?

CREST is the British Science Association’s national award scheme for student-led project work in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

  • Recognised by universities and referenced in UCAS personal statements
  • Bronze requires ten plus hours of genuine, student-led project work
  • Assessed on evidence: a project log, findings and a defended outcome
  • An award your child earns, not a certificate for showing up

Junkbot’s Mission X programme is a CREST Accredited Resource at Bronze Level, accredited by the British Science Association (accreditation term to February 2028). Students completing the programme project are registered for and can achieve the CREST Bronze Award. CREST and the CREST Awards kitemark are the property of the British Science Association.

Official CREST Awards Accredited Resource kitemark

Place the supplied kitemark asset here per BSA guidelines: minimum 250px wide, approved format only, clear exclusion zone, never alongside the main CREST logo.

A typical session

09:00 to 14:00 at the Do It Lab

TimeWhat happens
08:45–09:00Arrival and drop off at the Do It Lab, AUS
09:00–11:00Core session: the day’s technical ground, taught hands-on
11:15–12:00Founder mentor talk and open questions
12:00–12:40Supervised lunch at the AUS food court (own purchase or packed lunch); snacks and water provided
12:40–14:00Project lab: the CREST project moves forward, evidence logged every session
14:00Dismissal and pick up. The final session ends 12:15 after the showcase

Enrolling now

AED 1,850
per student · full five session programme
  • CREST Bronze registration and certification included
  • All kits, materials, laptops, snacks and industry-day transfers
  • 30 seats per track per batch, 1:10 educator ratio
  • Sibling and school-group rates on request

Reserve a seat

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Questions parents ask

Good questions, straight answers

What will my child actually learn about AI?
Not slideshows. In Track A, teams collect their own dataset, train an image classifier, test its accuracy on data it has never seen, improve it, and then connect it to their robot so the AI makes real decisions on the rescue course. In Track B, students model a real prediction problem by hand, then train a machine learning model on the same data and compare the two on accuracy, error and bias. Either way, students leave able to explain how a machine learns, why data quality matters, and where AI gets it wrong, because they watched their own model do exactly that.
When do batches run?
Weekend batches run one session every Saturday for five weeks, 09:00 to 14:00, at the Do It Lab, AUS. The next batch starts Saturday 5 September. Holiday intensives run the same five sessions across five consecutive days during school breaks.
Does my child need any coding or maths background?
No. Both tracks start from foundations in session one. Track B suits students comfortable with school-level mathematics; everything beyond that is taught in the programme.
Is the CREST Award guaranteed?
The Bronze Award is earned on evidence, not attendance. The programme is structured so every student who completes the five sessions and the project log meets the Bronze requirements, and we register, quality-assure and submit every project. Certificates typically arrive within four weeks.
Where exactly does it run?
At the Junkbot Do It Lab on the American University of Sharjah campus. Parents drop off and pick up each session; the industry-day transfers are by licensed coach, included.
Who supervises the students?
Two Junkbot educators per track plus a programme lead, all holding police clearance and safeguarding training, with a named safeguarding lead on site. Arrival and dismissal follow a signed register with release to authorised adults only.
What about lunch?
Students bring a packed lunch or buy from the AUS food court during a supervised lunch break. Junkbot provides morning snacks and water every session.
What is the internship shortlist?
Mentors and educators score projects across the programme on a published rubric. Top performers are shortlisted for structured one to two week internships with 1trepreneur community startups and Junkbot teams, with parental consent and a completion certificate.