Lumipad

STEM drone workshops
for Filipino schools.

We bring free, hands-on drone workshops to high schools and middle schools across the Philippines. Students learn the physics of flight, build toy drones, compete in simulator challenges, and design their own humanitarian drone missions — all in 2-3 days, at no cost to the school.

Request a workshop About Lumipad

Why drones in schools.

Drones sit at the intersection of physics, electronics, computer science, and design — making them one of the best STEM teaching tools available. A student who builds a drone learns about thrust-to-weight ratios, battery chemistry, motor KV ratings, propeller aerodynamics, and flight controller programming — all in a single project.

But beyond the technical skills, drones open a conversation about how technology can serve communities. In the Philippines, drones are already being used for agricultural surveys, disaster response, search and rescue, environmental monitoring, and delivering medicine to remote islands. Our workshops don't just teach students how drones work — they challenge students to think about how drones can make a positive difference in their own communities.

What the workshop covers.

Each workshop runs 2-3 days depending on the school's schedule. We bring all materials, equipment, and instructors — the school provides a classroom and students. Everything is free.

Day 1: Learn

  • How drones fly — physics of thrust, lift, drag, and weight
  • Motors, propellers, and batteries — how they work together
  • Electronics fundamentals — circuits, voltage, current
  • Real-world drone applications in the Philippines and globally
  • Case studies: humanitarian aid, search and rescue, agriculture, environmental monitoring

Day 2: Build and Fly

  • Build tiny toy drones from kits — hands-on assembly
  • Live demos with real drones — see flight physics in action
  • Simulator competitions — fly missions, race through rings, compete on the leaderboard
  • Use the build calculator to design a drone on paper
  • Experiment with different motor, propeller, and battery combinations

Day 3: Design and Present

  • Team project: design a drone mission that helps the Philippines
  • Students choose a real problem — disaster relief, medicine delivery, crop monitoring, reef surveys, reforestation
  • Teams design their drone, plan the mission, estimate the payload
  • Presentations to the class — teams pitch their ideas
  • Discussion: what's possible today and what's coming next

Real-world drone impact.

We show students how drones are already being used to solve real problems — in the Philippines and around the world. These aren't hypothetical examples. They're happening now.

Humanitarian aid and medicine delivery

Drones deliver blood, vaccines, and emergency supplies to remote communities that are hours from the nearest hospital — especially island barangays cut off during typhoon season.

Search and rescue

After typhoons, earthquakes, and floods, drones with thermal cameras locate survivors in debris and flooded areas faster than ground teams — covering in minutes what takes search parties hours.

Agricultural surveys

NDVI drone surveys show farmers which crops are healthy, which are stressed, and where to focus fertiliser and water — turning guesswork into data-driven farming for smallholder cooperatives.

Environmental monitoring

Drones monitor coral reefs, mangrove forests, and deforestation patterns — providing data for conservation programs and helping communities meet environmental compliance requirements.

Disaster preparedness mapping

High-resolution aerial maps built from drone imagery help barangays plan evacuation routes, identify flood-prone areas, and prepare for the next typhoon before it arrives.

Reforestation and seed dispersal

Drones drop seed pods over deforested hillsides, covering terrain that would take planting crews weeks — accelerating reforestation in areas damaged by logging or landslides.

Free tools students use during the workshop.

Every tool we use in the workshop is free, browser-based, and available to students after the workshop ends. No downloads, no accounts, no cost.

Drone Simulator — students fly missions, race through rings, and practice drone controls in a 3D browser-based simulator. Works on any device — laptops, tablets, even phones.

Build Calculator — students select motors, propellers, and batteries and instantly see thrust-to-weight ratio, flight time, and payload capacity. They use this to design their team's humanitarian drone on paper.

Workshop Lesson Plans — structured lesson plans based on the Lumipad training curriculum, focused on STEM skills, introduction to physics (thrust, lift, drag, weight), basic electronics, and practical examples using real drone components and flight data.

Bring a workshop to your school.

Our STEM drone workshops are completely free for all schools — we cover all materials, equipment, and instructor time. We're currently running workshops in the Davao region and expanding across Mindanao, Visayas, and Luzon.

If you're a teacher, principal, or school administrator interested in hosting a workshop, reach out to us. We'll work with your schedule, adapt the content to your students' level, and bring everything needed.

If you're an organisation, NGO, or company that wants to sponsor workshops in additional schools, we'd love to talk about partnership.