Students from Washington Yu Ying Public Charter School in DC to participate in a coding and VR technology experience at the Washington Auto Show hosted by Owners Illustrated magazine and Toyz Electronics founders.

Washington, DC – Owners Illustrated magazine, a leading urban entrepreneurial lifestyle publication, and Toyz Electronics, LLC, a Carnegie Mellon University startup, will partner to bring an engaging coding and creative technology training for DC Public School students to the Washington Auto Show on January 25th, 2018.

Damola Idowu and son Wole Idowu, a native of Washington, DC, believe that the future of technology is in the hands of DC Public School students today. Of his approach, Damola Idowu states, “Many jobs in the auto industry require coding. Early exposure will be critical to training the workforce of the future. I’m thrilled to be bringing this to the Washington Auto Show.”

“STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education is critically important to the future of our country, not to mention the automotive industry,” said Washington Auto Show President and CEO John O’Donnell. “We are excited to host this initiative at The Washington Auto Show.”

Damola, a Washington Automotive Press Association (WAPA) member, has now partnered with the Washington Yu Ying Public Charter School in DC to empower DC students to get into technology fields and become part of the auto industry in the future. Of the collaboration, Amy Quinn, Director of Teaching and Learning at the Yu Ying public charter school said, “We look forward to this collaboration and future collaborations with Mr. Idowu.”

Wole organizes Innovation Conferences held at Carnegie Mellon University each semester and Miguel Richardson, the music producer who leads the music production portion of these events, will be on hand to engage the students in music technology. Wole will teach the students to code for VR and an Android smart watch called the TZN1 that he is developing on the Carnegie Mellon Campus.

The TZN1 will also play a large role in teaching the students coding as part of a mobile driving game. Students will take pictures using the TZN1 watches and be able to learn a line of code and share the pictures. Wole Idowu states, “I hope to bring a great session at the Auto Show to showcase and for the students at Yu Ying to learn from, grow, and develop their skills to become excellent developers, leaders, and innovators of the future.”

Throughout the entire run of the show, from January 26th through February 4th, multiple VR stations will be set up on the show floor. Additionally, there will be a gaming section where attendees of the Auto Show can play driving focused video games.

Founder and Editor in Chief, Damola Idowu, created Owners Illustrated magazine in the District of Columbia in 2002. He is bringing a proven formula that helped his son, Wole, graduate high school and be featured on CNBC at age 15. Wole, who was raised in Ward 8 DC, started school at age 4 at the World Public Charter School in their Mandarin immersion program and was exposed to technology at an early age. He graduated in 2017 from Carnegie Mellon University with an Electrical and Computer Engineering Degree.

For more information on the outreach and coding program, visit www.toyzelectronics.com or contact Damola Idowu @ [email protected] or 202-607-3629.