Reported by Hannah Ziegler
The 2025 International Drone League (iDrone) youth camp took place virtually via Zoom from May 5th to 8th, 2025. This camp featured informal STEM learning modules, including drone building, coding, and a poster presentation to experience fast-moving technologies, such as unmanned aerial systems (UAS), commonly known as drones. Throughout the camp, students had the opportunity to build their own drones from scratch, learn about motor control, and stabilize drones for safe and legal flight in the national airspace. Additionally, students collaborated in teams of 4 to 5, brainstorming how emerging technologies, such as drones, ground robots, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and machine learning (ML) can address real-world problems and exchange their knowledge and thoughts among peers for potential technical solutions.
On the first day of camp, Chair Jae Ryu introduced the 53rd President of KSEA, Dr. Tae Oh to welcome all participants, followed by Jules Lee – a NASA scientist broadcasting a seminar on exploring Mars. For Day 1 hands-on STEM activities, students constructed their own drones using the idrone development kit that was delivered to their home. Throughout this drone building process, they understood the various components comprising a drone, including propellers, motors, body frame, circuit board, and accessories.
The following day began with an invited talk by Kenny Lee, the co-founder/CEO at Aigen. He introduced how drones can be utilized in AI-driven, network-connected robotic service. It was a great opportunity for students to learn about drone applications in agriculture. Next, students learned coding and programming using Arduino IDE. Through this module, students learned basic coding by completing a series of step-by-step video tutorials.
On Day 3, students collaborated in groups to brainstorm real-world problems that could be addressed using drones to inspire practical applications of this technology. Each team briefly shared their ideas during the team poster pitch. The rest of the session was dedicated work time for student teams to develop their collaborative poster.
On the last day, students showcased their posters with drone-based technical solutions to real-world problems through a 7-minute pitch. Each presentation was followed by a 3-minute Q&A in which all participants and adult facilitators exchanged constructive feedback concerning feasibility, design, social impact, etc. Among 15 teams, four finalists were selected. These chosen teams are invited to UKC2025 as poster presenters with the assistance of assigned mentors.
The following are posters made by teams 1, 8, 9, and 13.
The 2025 iDrone Poster Finalist Awards Recipients
| Team 1 | BlueShield (Eutrophication) | Danim Seok (6th grade) Karalim Cruikshank (9th grade) Eiden Han (10th grade) |
| Team 8 | AEGIS (Aerial Enforcement Guidance and Intelligence System) | Alex Park (7th grade) Hyunseo Lee (8th grade) Yihun Jung (9th grade) Andrew Park (9th grade) |
| Team 9 | SkyLink (Wireless Network) | Eugene Kwak (7th grade) Landon Eum (9th grade) Jaeyoon Kim (11th grade) Daniel Lee (11th grade) Hanseon Lee (11th grade) |
| Team 13 | Early Building Management | Benjamin Kim (8th grade) Yumin Kim (8th grade) Hosea Shin (9th grade) Hannah Oh (10th grade) |
Overall, we’ve concluded the 2025 iDrone with tremendous success. Throughout this camp, students have not only gained a deeper understanding of drone technology, but also developed their teamwork, creative problem-solving, and critical thinking skills. For example, youth have noted that “The poster making was very fun because it gave us an opportunity to be creative and was a way that I haven’t done before!” and that the camp was “a great experience for me to work with my peers in a STEM related environment.” We hope the experience will continue to inspire youths’ pursuit of STEM education and career.
We express our deepest gratitude to all iDrone Coordinators, Committee Members, others who have supported iDrone KSEA 2025 (Alphabetic order by last name): Chang Kyoung Choi, Gloria Kim, Sunghyun Kim, Taehun Kim, Jackie Lee, Jay Lee, Jungwoo Lee, Katie Park, Kyowon Lee, Jeongwon Park, Yeoungkwon Son, Yungjun Yoo, Jiyoon Yoon, Hannah Ziegler.
KSEA e-Letters 