Teacher and Roboticist Builds Full-Scale ENIAC Replica with Students for 80th Anniversary

From Roboticist to Educator: A Builder’s Journey

Tom Burick has always considered himself a builder. Over the years, he has designed robots, constructed a vintage teardrop trailer, and most recently, led a group of students in building a full-scale replica of a pivotal 1940s computer. Burick serves as a technology instructor at PS Academy in Gilbert, Arizona, a middle and high school dedicated to students with autism and other specialized learning needs.

Building ENIAC: A Monumental Classroom Project

At the start of the 2025–26 school year, Burick initiated a project with his students to construct a full-scale replica of the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC) in celebration of the 80th anniversary of its creation. ENIAC, one of the world’s first programmable electronic computers, was approximately 1,000 times faster than other machines of its time.

From Robotics Entrepreneur to Teacher

Before transitioning to education, Burick owned a robotics company for a decade in the 2000s. However, a financial downturn forced him to close the business, leading him to pursue teaching.

“I had so many amazing people help me when I was young [who] really gave me their time and resources, and really changed the trajectory of my life. I thought I need to pay that forward.”

Early Passion for Robotics

Burick’s fascination with robotics began in childhood. Growing up in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, he was captivated by Lost in Space, a television show featuring a robot character who protected the Robinson family. “He was the young boy’s best friend, and I was so captivated by that,” Burick recalls. “I remember thinking to myself, I want that in my life. And that started that lifelong love affair with robotics and technology.”

He started building toy robots from found materials and, by junior high school, began incorporating electronics. “By early high school, I was building full-fledged autonomous, microprocessor-controlled machines,” he says. At age 15, he constructed a 150-pound steel firefighting robot, earning awards from IEEE and other organizations.

Mentorship and Self-Directed Learning

Burick’s pursuit of knowledge was driven by curiosity and mentorship. He reached out to local colleges and universities for guidance. He first contacted a student at Carnegie Mellon University, who invited him to campus. “My parents drove me down the next weekend, and he gave me a tour of the robotics lab. I was mesmerized,” Burick says. “He sent me home with college textbooks and piles of metal and gears and wires.”

Burick studied the textbooks meticulously, reading them repeatedly until he grasped the concepts. To fill knowledge gaps, he attended classes at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, where a robotics instructor allowed him to sit in. Reflecting on these mentors, he says, “Each of these adults helped change the trajectory of my life.”

Choosing a Non-Traditional Path

Toward the end of high school, Burick decided college wasn’t the right fit for him. “I was drawn to real-world problem-solving rather than structured coursework and I chose to continue along that path,” he says. Additionally, Burick has dyscalculia, a condition that makes traditional mathematics more challenging. “It pushed me to develop alternative methods