Fredi Lajvardi, the inspiration for the newly released motion picture “Spare Parts,” will speak at the Talley Student Union on Wednesday, April 8.
Lajvardi is a science teacher at Carl Hayden Community High School in Phoenix, Arizona, who inspired students from undocumented backgrounds to compete against and win national underwater robotics championships, topping multiple major universities, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
In 2005, Lajvardi was named the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers National Outstanding Educator. He won the Arizona Department of Education Leadership Award in 2006 and selected as the Phoenix’s Outstanding Teacher of the Year from 2005-09.
His remarkable story was first picked up by Wired magazine, followed by other major news organizations. Author Joshua Davis of Wired eventually wrote “Spare Parts: Four Undocumented Teenagers, One Ugly Robot, and the Battle for the American Dream.”
That book inspired the documentary “Underwater Dreams,” as well as the motion picture “Spare Parts,” starring comedian George Lopez and Marisa Tomei.
The program, presented by NC State’s Goodnight Scholars Program, is free and open to the public and is slated to start at 7:30 p.m. in Talley’s Mountains-Piedmont Ballroom.
“We are delighted to welcome Fredi Lajvardi to campus for our inaugural speaker series,” said Allison Medlin, director of the Goodnight Scholars Program. “As an award-winning STEM educator, Fred truly embodies the spirit and mission of our program. His story will inspire and challenge our scholars to consider how they can support the next generation of STEM students.”
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