Whiz Kid: The Robot Engineer

Thomas Henri, a seventh-grade student at Walnut Creek Intermediate School, is one of a kind. Thomas helps make his school a better place with his compassion and works hard outside of school to create the ultimate Lego Robot. 

Judy Mazur, Thomas' third- and fifth-grade teacher, has experienced firsthand Thomas' passion for school. Mazur recommended Thomas to Walnut Creek Patch for this column. 

"Thomas is an outstanding student academically, but he is oh so much more," said Mazur in an email. "Thomas is kind and funny and thoughtful. He is always considerate of others and willing to help."  

The Lego Robotics Program is a showcase of hard work and computer talent. In his third year in the program, Thomas and his team of friends from school have become one of the premier teams in Northern California. 

The program is centered around programming a computer that controls motors on the robot. 

“You get to program something, with the team," said Thomas. "The different aspects and robot performance make it interesting."

In order to see how Thomas and his friends' robot stacks up again Northern California, Thomas attends events in which his robot competes against a wide variety of teams. However, this competition stands out because the computer runs the robot through tasks. Thomas and his friends don't have the privilege of adjusting the robot's actions during the exhibition. 

“It's all about setting it up at the right spot, because where you start it from — that’s how the whole program runs," said Thomas. 

Thomas has a close bond with his teammates — who are also Thomas' friends at school. At school, they often plan what new supplies to order, or how they might change the robot for the future. 

In fifth grade, Thomas also won the school-wide spelling bee. His former teacher told a story about that. 

"I thought long and hard about a small reward I could present to Thomas," said Mazur. "I decided to write a poem of praise because I believed it would be meaningful to Thomas. Not only did he like the poem — weeks later, he wrote a poem of praise back to me."

In addition to the robotics program, Thomas also plays soccer in the fall, runs track and field in the spring and swims in the summer. This young man has a full plate of extracurricular activities. 

This summer, Thomas and his family traveled to Peru; the trip was eye-opening. 

"Peru was extremely different from America," said Thomas. "We went to the Amazon jungle, which was crazy. We stayed in lodges up river. No roads or anything— we had to take a boat to where we went."

"Also, there was a lot of bargaining. When shopping at big market places, we negotiated the price of things," said Thomas.

Thomas doesn't think too much about his future. He's playing it by ear. Thomas is very interested in science. There is no doubt that analyzing robots will help him in the future. 

Who knows? Maybe the robot that will drive your electric car one day will be born through Thomas and his team's innovative engineering. 

Do you know of a kid who goes above and beyond in community service or academics or extracurriculars? Then you know a Whiz Kid! To nominate this achiever, send an email to Walnut Creek Patch editor Lance Howland (lance.howland@patch.com) or Whiz Kid reporter Jonathan Hawthorne by clicking on his byline at the top of the story.