Hermann Kreimann equips students in California for a tech-driven future

It is no secret that rapid advancements in technology have ushered the world into a new paradigm, one where technical knowhow is no longer merely desirable but essential. Enter Hermann Kreimann - ex-US military serviceman, Iraq war veteran, tech enthusiast, entrepreneur, and philanthropist as well as former football coach. The list doesn’t end there as Kreimann is also the co-founder and commissioner of the US Engineering League and a national organizer for the prestigious World Robot Olympiad USA. Kreimann runs a company in the state of California, providing robotics and computer science training to students in grades K to 12. He’s also co-founded a competition league replete with esports and battle robots. He says his mission is to, “provide different competition opportunities for students to compete in science, technology, engineering, and math.” He believes this is crucial as it, “encourages the kids to develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills.” Kreimann’s debut into the world of robotics education happened quite delightfully, through the urging of his teenage son who saw his skills and expertise and thought it could benefit his peers. Kreimann says, “Although I was hesitant at first, I decided to give it a shot.” Kreimann has since expanded what started as a summer camp into a thriving enterprise, training over 2000 students across 35 schools every year. A highlight of his career was his team’s win at the World Robotic Olympiad championship. After which they were selected to represent the USA at the championship in Denmark where they competed against over 200 teams from over 70 countries, placing 10th overall. The entrepreneur attributes his successes in business to the skills he acquired playing sports in his childhood. To Kreimann, it is high time that Robotics and technical competitions be given the same stature as athletics in schools. Kreimann states that, “robotics helps a lot of kids and gives them an outlet to represent their schools. It helps them feel a sense of accomplishment and belonging.” He continues, “the combination between the educational and competitive aspect of our approach is a really powerful tool to develop innovative kids that are going to make great things in the future.” It is not just fun and games in the robotics arena, Kreimann explains, “things can go wrong in the middle of competition and the problems are always evolving. There is always something different for the students to troubleshoot and that keeps them on their toes and forces them to come up with creative solutions.” He adds, “our students are given hands-on opportunities, something that can’t be replicated in most classroom environments.”