|
By Ann Houston
Oklahoma Department of CareerTech
On Jan. 6, 12 teams of Oklahoma high schoolers,
some aspiring to be engineers, learned the rules
for an international Robotics competition
|
The second annual FIRST
– For Inspiration and Recognition of
Science and Technology – Robotics
competition was announced at 9 a.m. CST
from the FIRST Headquarters in
Manchester, N.H. via NASA Satellite
Television Channel on the Oklahoma State
University Stillwater campus.
More than 300 students,
teachers, mentors, sponsors and other
supporters attended the event
representing 14 teams from Oklahoma,
Liberal, Kan., and Ft. Worth, Tex.
Founded in 1989 by Dean
Kamen, an inventor, engineer and
entrepreneur, FIRST is an international
nonprofit organization promoting
science, engineering and technology in
high schools.
This year, 1,133 teams
involving 28,325 students will be
engaged in intense competition, not
unlike that found in the sports field,
according to Dr. Karl Reid, dean of the
OSU College of Engineering, Architecture
and Technology.
“The vision of FIRST is
to create a world where science and
technology are celebrated and young
people dream of becoming science and
technology heroes,” according to the
FIRST Web site. |
Pre-Engineering
students representing Norman North,
Norman High, Moore High and Westmoore
High Schools stand next to the robot
they've designed |
Oklahoma’s 12 teams comprised of
more than 200 10th –12th grade students viewed
the announcement together at the Stillwater kick
off on the Oklahoma State University Stillwater
campus hosted by the CEAT, joining thousands of
students across the country.
“FIRST Robotics is more than a
game. It is an initiative designed to create
student interest in science, engineering and
technology,” Reid said.“FIRST focuses attention
on a critical national problem in technological
workforce development.
“By participating in the Kickoff
connection in Stillwater, team members will
learn about the 2007 competition and receive the
rules and kit of parts without delay,” Reid
said.
The Oklahoma teams have been
formed by students from Oklahoma CareerTech’s
technology centers, public, private and home
schools to compete in this event. When the
robots are finished, the teams have the
opportunity to compete in a regional event. Top
teams will be invited to compete in the national
event in the Atlanta Dome. One Oklahoma team
will compete in the New Orleans regional, four
will compete in Kansas City, and seven will
compete in Houston.
The Oklahoma teams include Moore
Norman Technology Center; Payne County Robotics
– a Stillwater home-school team; McClain High
School for Science and Technology, Tulsa East
Central High School, Booker T. Washington and
Memorial High School, Tulsa; Francis Tuttle
Technology Center and Metro Technology Center,
Oklahoma City; Tri County Technology Center,
Bartlesville; Tulsa Technology Center; Jenks
High School and Ponca City High School.
“FIRST Robotics gives students
the opportunity to work as an engineering team
with real-world circumstances – limited
resources and limited time,” according to Robin
Schott. Schott is the innovative initiatives and
service manager at the Oklahoma Department of
Career and Technology Education. “This important
educational initiative is accomplished by
forming teams of committed students that build
robots during a six week period.”
Once teams form they are paired
with mentors from the engineering field. Mentors
are practicing engineers who help teams with
ideas for the design and building of the robots
that meet the constraints and conditions of the
competition.
“The competition encourages
students to work with engineering mentors to
solve very complicated engineering problems, and
provides them the avenue to use ‘gracious
professionalism’ while helping other teams at
the competition,” Schott said.
Gracious professionalism is a
teamwork concept promoted by FIRST.
Immediately following the NASA
satellite broadcast announcement, the Oklahoma
students viewed a playing field constructed by
Ron Markum, senior research engineer in one of
OSU’s research centers and an advisor of the
Payne County team. Team captains received kits
of parts and then break their teams out into
separate rooms for brain storming sessions. The
kits, in two crates that are 24 x 24 x 32 inches
and up to three smaller boxes, will be
transported home with each team.
“Our teams are in for some
surprises this year,” said Jack Sellers, P.E.,
Ed.D. Sellers is a retired electrical engineer
from Tulsa and volunteers to coordinate FIRST
Robotics in Oklahoma. “The design and build
season begins immediately following the national
announcement, so team members will need to be
ahead on class work as the following six weeks
will be busy.”
Sellers and Tonya Scott,
organizers of the Stillwater kickoff event, are
responsible for creating a high level of
interest for FIRST in Oklahoma, Reid said.
Scott is a biology teacher at
Ponca City High School and is the advisor for
the state’s most experienced Robotics team. This
is Ponca City’s eighth year in the competition.
“Without Tonya’s passion and her
tenacity, we (Oklahoma) would not be where we
are today -- by a long way,” Reid said.
“From my experience with FIRST
during the past seven years, the students will
work harder and have more fun doing so than at
any other time in their lives,” Scott said.
“They will learn more than how to design and
build a robot. They will learn teambuilding and
life skills that will be invaluable in future
years.” |
