Programming the Future: Sophomore Ben Goldstein Builds a Robot

PHOTO CREDITS: Charlie Blodnieks

BY CHARLIE BLODNIEKS

The room seemed to be full of a faint mechanical buzz, and it was immediately evident that one of the occupants was not human. On the ground sat a U-shaped, wheeled wooden board, donned with wires and mechanical fixings. Proud owner and creator, CCHS sophomore Ben Goldstein stood, smiling at his robot. Despite his extremely unique, cutting-edge creation, his ‘this-thing-isn’t-perfect-just-yet’ complex kicked in, and he picked it up and started tweaking. When he plugged it into his computer and started coding, the complexity behind this interesting yet modest-looking robot really begins to show; the hours of planning, working, and high-tech scheming came out. Numbers and sequences that I can’t even begin to wrap my mind around flowed through a silver cord into the robot’s motherboard, working like amino acid sequences to determine exactly how the robot operates. Before me was the most spectacular, awe-inspiring thing I’d ever seen a high schooler do – and he’s only a sophomore.

Goldstein was born with a scientist’s brain. Ever since he was little, he had a hard-wired love for figuring out exactly how everything around him (and within him) worked. While other kindergartners learned to read with books about fairy tales and pirates, Goldstein read about our vast universe. By the time he was in elementary school, he had graduated to a 3,000 page scientific encyclopedia, which, at the time, he couldn’t even lift on his own. Anything he wanted to know sat at his fingertips, and he absorbed the information readily.

“Most of my scientific education was self-taught at this point,” Goldstein said. “I kept reading, and eventually picked up programming at around 12 or 13. I also read a book about the elements, which I found very interesting. As I learned more, I just got more interested. This trend continues today.”

Out of elementary school, Goldstein’s love for science was already more fine-tuned and apparent than that of most graduating high school seniors. He has persistently entered competition after competition, even becoming one of the few kids who looked forward to science fair on a yearly basis. He’s entered a myriad of mathematical and scientific competitions, including the Google Science Fair, the Science Olympiad, the United States of America Mathematical Talent Search, and multiple Mu Alpha Theta regional competitions. In his 9th grade year, he placed fourth at the Broward County Science Fair.

For Goldstein, his passion isn’t his only strength. He’s always been strong in all things academic, and, in middle school, advanced to levels of competition in the Florida State Geography Bee. His academic career has always been a central point in his life, and he plans to stay on that track.

“He’s very much into looking at the topic, understanding it, and then looking at everything else that feeds into it to be able to thoroughly understand the topic,” Advanced Placement Biology teacher Loretta Coyne said.

At the end of his freshman year, Goldstein began to piece together his robot. Self-taught in coding, he understood that this would be a monumental undertaking; however, when faced with a dilemma, he has let nothing truly get in the way of his persistence. Through long hours of conceptualizing, coding, and begging his parents to drive him to buy materials, he finally has a functional product. While most would initially think that building the robot is about actually building it, there is so much more behind it – in reality, there is nothing to “put simply” about it.

“Programming is when you can really start to be creative with what you want the robot to do and how it will behave,” Goldstein said. “Programming the robot is probably the most creative part of building a robot, and it is also more forgiving of mistakes, even if it usually takes longer than building the robot physically.”

When he’s not busy being a technological genius, Goldstein is leading one of his many clubs to success. As President of Computer Science Club and Vice President of Mu Alpha Theta (Math Club), he’s devoted nearly his entire existence to pursuing what he loves: understanding the world. Despite only being a sophomore, he is taking four APs, including Chemistry, Biology, and Computer Science, securing him a spot as a top contender for Class of 2017 Valedictorian. Beyond that, he’s an active member of CCHS debate and a trumpet player. One of his many projects under construction involves electronic music production, which he’s been working on for quite a while now.

“I end up doing a lot of projects based on whatever I think of at a given time,” Goldstein said.

Goldstein stands on the cutting edge of future scientific advances. He plans to get a doctorate in a scientific or technological field, and then work for the government for some time. After that, however, he doesn’t know where he’s headed. He’s interested in aerospace engineering, cryptography, research and development. He may not know his exact future plans, but one thing is for certain: what Goldstein decides to do with his future could very well shape the course of scientific history.

“ I’m not 100% about what I want to do, but I know what I like doing, and I feel that I have an obligation to my country that I should fulfill before working commercially,” Goldstein said. “I’d also like to learn to fly planes at some point.”