Robot Lessons Help Sick Children Learn Math

"I don't just want them to catch up," she says of her students. "I want them to see mathematics as relevant and beautiful. I want them to be able to imagine a (successful) life for themselves." At 35, Nickels has earned a doctoral degree in mathematics education and is usingrobotics to help kids with cancer, sickle-cell disease and HIV-AIDS. She wants to both develop their intellect under the most challenging of circumstances – including, often, in the hospital between surgery and chemotherapy – and to give them back a sense of control over their destinies.