By Masa Hammoudah
This June, ITKAN launches its Summer Training Program — rooted in the belief that excellence in STEM is an Islamic obligation. The program equips students with the technical skills, mentorship, and real-world experience to compete and excel on the world stage.
During the 8-week intensive, students move through classroom instruction and hands-on exercises across two core disciplines: Computer-Aided Design (CAD) and programming. Each track runs in parallel from the first week, giving students an early understanding of how design and code must work together as one unified system — both building toward a single goal: a competition-ready robot by the end of the summer.
CAD is the foundation of modern engineering — the software through which today's most complex machines are designed, modeled, and tested before a single physical part is ever built. From aerospace components to surgical tools, CAD is how engineers turn ideas into reality. For ITKAN students, learning CAD means developing a true engineering mindset: thinking in three dimensions, designing with precision, and refining with purpose. The spatial reasoning, technical discipline, and iterative thinking it builds translate directly into careers across robotics, aerospace, biomedical engineering, architecture, and manufacturing.
ITKAN's programming curriculum is about more than writing code. Students learn to think algorithmically, break complex problems into clear solutions, and debug with confidence. The best code isn't just code that works — it's code that holds up when it matters most.
The program runs across two focused, high-intensity months. Month one builds a strong foundation: CAD students work through core design principles and hands-on modeling, while programming students develop control systems and autonomous routines. Month two raises the standard, as teams integrate their CAD designs and code into a competition-ready robot under conditions that mirror the real season — time pressure, strategic decisions, and continuous testing and refinement.
The program culminates in a Mock Season: an off-season competition where ITKAN students step onto a live field for the very first time. They experience alliance selections, match strategy, pit culture, and the full energy of a real competition environment. When the official season arrives, nothing will be unfamiliar and nothing will be intimidating — the Mock Season is where months of summer training become genuine, proven readiness.
To enroll your student or partner with ITKAN, visit itkan.one.
