Friday, July 13, 2007

News NYC/NJ FIRST - July 2007

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July 2007 - Vol 1, Issue 3
In This Issue
Get Involved
Quick Links
The 2007 FIRST season was a tremendous success for New York City / New Jersey FIRST -- the move to the Javits Center, a joint resolution honoring FIRST passed by the New Jersey Legislature, more than 190 FLL teams registered in New York City, the inauguration of the FIRST Vex Challenge in New Jersey, Governor Spitzer visits the NYC FIRST Robotics Competition, more than $1.2 million raised in support of FIRST activities across the metro region. Yes - a pretty good year. Thanks to all the wonderful people who made it possible.

To download a copy of our annual report Click here.

Please let us know what you think.

Help us do even better next year. Let us know how you think we can improve the FIRST experience for students and volunteers. Give us your ideas for how we can get more students involved in the FIRST celebration of young men and women working smart in science and technology.

Send your ideas to us at nycnjfirst@njit.edu.
Thank you for being a FIRST Champion.
As an organization, FIRST doesn't get directly involved in trying to change what is taught in schools. But that doesn't mean that Dean Kamen's vision doesn't include having schools and communities place much greater emphasis on science and technology education. Dean's strategy as he will tell you is, "create demand among kids and the rest follows." In other words, get students excited about technology, communities will figure out how they channel all the energy and interest. Mount Olive High School in New Jersey, which has been involved in FIRST since 1996, is one example of what can happen.
Dina Agrapides, senior engineer at Cordis Corp., a Johnson & Johnson company, recently "retired" from her position as chairperson of the New Jersey FIRST Robotics Planning Committee after four years of being responsible for planning and executing one of the nation's two oldest regional FIRST events.

"Dina is one of those 'behind the scenes" people who always gets the job done," commented Randy Schaeffer, FIRST regional director. "She's an effective leader and great problem-solver."

At Sovereign Bank Arena, Dina can be found scrambling from one area of the arena to another in a t-shirt marked "Crew," and a headset throw which dozens of other volunteers are constantly talking in her ear. It seems sometimes like everyone is pulling her in a different direction. Dina is energized by her strong desire to make sure that the overall experience of the NJ Regional is something that the kids can come away from and love.
"Gracious Professionalism" - talk to any FIRST fanatic for more than five minutes and there is no doubt it will be part of the conversation. So what is it? What is this FIRST mantra, coined by FIRST guru Woodie Flowers, Pappalardo Professor of Mechanical Engineering at MIT? Maybe the best way to explain it is to give an example.

Back on Wednesday, May 16th as Allentown High School's Redbird FIRST Robotics Team (Team #1807) was preparing for that Saturday's Monty Madness FIRST Scrimmage, their robot's pivot arm gave out. New parts were needed to make the repair, yet there were only hours in which to get the job done and the parts weren't readily available from vendors. A lot was at stake. The team was planning on using the Monty Madness Scrimmage as a way to give its new members real experience on the playing field as part of its program to get ready for 2008. The team's development strategy was about to go up in smoke.
For most high school students summer means packing away a dozen old notebooks and "vegging" out by the pool or in front of the nearest video game console. But for the members of FIRST Robotics Team #25, the Raider Robotix at North Brunswick High School, summer means taking on the role of teacher and helping younger kids get hooked on FIRST. Raider Robotix, is again hosting a Summer Robotics Camp for students entering grades 6-9. The three-week program is being run by sophomore Morgan Gillespie.

"The kids really enjoy camp because its more on a peer-to-peer basis where the younger kids aren't afraid to ask us questions, or talk to us about things other than the task at hand," says Kristian Calhoun, a member of Raider Robotix's drive team. This will be Kris's second year as a part of the Robotics Camp. Kris adds that "you see the campers enjoying themselves, and learning about robotics and science at the same time. They look up to us as role models, but also as friends."
The goal of FIRST is to inspire young men and women to pursue further studies and careers in science and technology and to help them prepare to compete in the technologically-driven global economy.

FIRST's success in achieving its goal was documented in a study funded by the Ford Foundation and completed by Brandeis University in 2005. The study, entitled More than Robots: An Evaluation of the FIRST Robotics Competition-Participant and Institutional Impacts, provides evidence that participating in FIRST Robotics positively impacts the post-secondary education and career plans of high school graduates.


The study involved 300 FIRST Robotics Competition participants from schools in New York City and the Detroit area, and found that when FIRST students were compared to other high school graduates with similar math and science preparation, FIRST students:
  • Went on to college at higher rate (89% vs. 65%) than recent high school graduates;
  • Were nearly twice as likely to major in science or engineering (55% vs. 28%);
  • Were more than three times as likely to major specifically in engineering (41% vs. 13%);
  • Were significantly more likely to aspire to a post-graduate degree (77% vs. 63%);
  • Were more than twice as likely to expect to have a science or technology-related career (45% vs. 20%); and
  • Were more than twice as likely to have done community service in the past year (71% vs. 30%)
Every once in a while we get a letter from a student or a parent telling us how participating in FIRST has made a difference in the lives of young people. Below is one we recently received from the father of a FIRST team member in New York City. Letters like this go along way toward reminding us why our efforts are important.

My son is lucky, but I am even luckier. My son attended a high school that doesn't have a robotics team. He decided he needed to change schools and did. Even more luckily, he and a friend were taken in by a FIRST robotics team run by an inimitable teacher-coach, whose home base is a high school in the Bronx, New York, which is in the poorest Congressional district in the country.
"Why are we involved?" asks Tom Marotta somewhat rhetorically. "Because we need highly motivated and highly skilled people to deal with the challenges the nation is confronting," he goes on to explain.

Tom Marotta is CEO of Marotta Controls Inc., based in Boonton, NJ, which for the past six years has been sponsoring and mentoring FIRST Robotics Team #637 based at Montville High School in Montville, NJ.

Each summer, two lucky rising juniors and/or seniors are selected from among team members to participate in a six-week summer internship at Marotta Controls' facility in Boonton. Marotta explains that for the FIRST three weeks the students get to work in the firm's engineering department followed by three weeks working in assembly and testing. "That way students get to see the whole engineering process - they learn how innovation is done in a company like ours."
Every once in a while we need to remind ourselves that technology is not just about creating better consumer products, getting better gas mileage from SUVs, or figuring out how to get the latest music downloaded to a cell phone. A good way to do this would be to visit "Design for the Other 90%", now on exhibit at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum through September 23rd.

Quoting from the exhibit's website:

Designers, engineers, students and professors, architects, and social entrepreneurs from all over the globe are devising cost-effective ways to increase access to food and water, energy, education, healthcare, revenue-generating activities, and affordable transportation for those who most need them. And an increasing number of initiatives are providing solutions for underserved populations in developed countries such as the United States.
Christian Garcia, a member of the Brooklyn Tech team, recently won Third Place in the Autodesk Inventor Design Competition. Christian created a rendering of a robot for the 2007 FIRST Robotics competition.

Submissions were judged on their use of Inventor capabilities, innovation, and aesthetic appeal. Students were competing for prizes from HP, AWD, and 3Dconnexion.

Christian exemplifies the best of what New York City has to offer. He chose to attend Brooklyn Tech because he wanted to take engineering classes even though it meant commuting more than an hour from his home in Washington Heights.

After a year of competing in the FIRST LEGO League, Christian dedicated himself to the FIRST Robotics Competition. Christian says, "FIRST gave me the opportunity to meet great people that helped me develop character." In addition, Christian is thankful because he got to be a leader within the team and to try new things.

This summer he is headed to the University of Central Florida where he will major in Aerospace Engineering. Congratulations Christian! We're proud of you.
Back in high school, Sabrina Varanelli was the founder of her FIRST Robotics team at Pope John XXIII High School in Sparta, NJ. Having just completed her freshman year at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Sabrina is employed as a summer intern by BAE Systems in Wayne NJ.

Sabrina's FIRST team (a tournament winner at both New York City and New Jersey in 2007) is sponsored by BAE Systems and mentored by employees at the company's Electronics & Integrated Solutions Network System's facility in Wayne. BAE Systems is also a major sponsor of the FIRST Robotics Competition held in Manchester, NH.

For more information, please contact:

NEW YORK CITY / NEW JERSEY FIRST
New Jersey Institute of Technology
Fenster Hall, Room 361
Newark, NJ 071021

E-mail - nycnjfirst@njit.edu
Phone - (973) 596-3234

VISIT OUR WEBSITE
www.nycnjfirst.org


New York City / New Jersey FIRST


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Tuesday, July 10, 2007

NYCFIRST Update #5: July 10, 2007


A newsletter for the NYCFIRST robotics community in New York City and the surrounding area. If you want to be removed from this list type “remove” in the subject are and hit return.

Compiled by Norm Scott
NYCFIRST Registration coordinator
norscot@aol.com
normsco@gmail.com
917-992-3734

Mark (tip of head),Gary, Norm (peeking), Wayne, Dean, Mike, Evan after Dinner at Dean's (good title for a movie).

MORE PICS LATER

Check the NYC/NJ FIRST Web site for updated info
www.nycnjfirst.org


The next FLL Planning committee meeting:
Tues. July 10 at 5:30pm at Credit Suisse.


Being planned:
FLL Kickoffs in the Bronx and at Polytech U in downtown B’klyn on a Saturday in September. Game boards will be set up and questions will be answered. Due to the necessity to get a quick start this year (see below) we will try to set this up earlier than usual, but there are holiday weekends involved. Target dates: Sept 8 (The Bronx), Sept. 15 or Sept 29

Saturday training in October for new coaches and vets needing a refresher.

1. Email Notes:
Future Updates may be sent from my gmail account: Normsco@gmail.com. Please make a note of it if you have spam blockers.
Ignore this message if you already classify these Updates as spam.

If you are receiving these updates on your schools.nyc.gov accounts and do not check them regularly, please send me an alternative email where you can be reached and note, which you prefer.


2. Registration Report as of July 8: 80 teams
Brooklyn: 16
Manhattan: 2
Queens: 10
Bronx: 27
Staten Island: 24

These numbers include multiple teams: 38 teams from 15 schools

Registration is running ahead of last year and there are a limited number of field set-up kits. Last year we had problems over this issue with schools scrambling to get kits.

As usual, registration is no guarantee of entry into the citywide event.
(See item 4.)

See the list of the 80 teams below. New teams, coaches and schools are in BOLD. If you are a new coach or if your school has a new coach, let me know.
My intention is to migrate this list to a Google spreadsheet but I need updated info from you.

3. Updating information
I need updated info from you as to the primary coach(es) for your teams and as to whether the names listed next to your teams are relevant to the team. If they are supervisors or any other position let me know.


4. FLL Planning Committee Meeting: Qualification Tournaments
With registration running so high already, it is clear that we will not have room for all the teams even in a 2-day event. Thus, we are seriously considering a ONE DAY CITYWIDE event with 72 teams. The former practice tournaments would be upgraded into qualifying events using the considerable money saved by not having the 2nd day. All these events would take place in December with the CITYWIDE either the last Saturday of January or the first Saturday of February. A FINAL DECISION IS EXPECTED IN THE NEXT WEEK OR SO.
Details on whether there will be limits on schools with multiple teams also have to be worked out. We welcome your input.

If we do go in this direction, we may add a special event at the FRC tournament for FLL’ers at the Javits Center the first weekend of April. Discussions go on.


5. FIRST Partner meeting
A hardy band of NYCFIRST’ers headed up to the annual Partner meeting at FIRST HQ in Manchester, NH from June 19-22. Evan Weinberg, Michael Koumoulos, and Mike Siegel, FRC/FLL coaches from Lehman, Aviation, and Staten Island Tech high schools joined Gary Israel, FLL Planning committee chairperson Mark Sharfshteyn and Vision Ed’s Laura Allen and Corey Bader.

We got to sample the Power Puzzle and it looks very exciting.

We were invited for dinner - for 70 - at Dean Kamen’s amazing home where we ate in the helicopter hanger. They removed them first.

We met FLL people from around the nation, in addition to international reps from Japan, Brazil, Mexico, and Thailand, and the top LEGO Ed people were there from Denmark. Japan will hold an Asian Open event in late April and a few of us are thinking of going to assist. Konichiwa.

FLL growth has been so great, everyone is having problems getting all teams into state tournaments and there were major discussion on running qualifiers.

One important note: The World Festival is just about full and there will no longer be a guarantee that the winners get to go. Some kind of alternating year system is being worked out.
We have just been sent some preliminary info on the process and we will share it with you when we can.
We do not know whether NYC will be scheduled to go in ’08, one of the reasons we are working on the Javits event for some of the winning teams in the New York/New Jersey area. Sort of a mini-WF with FRC, FTC (formerly VEX) and FLL.


6. FIRST Robotics Teams from Bronx, Manhattan and Queens Public Schools to Share Robots with the Public at the Sony Plaza Atrium

Wednesday, July 11

WHAT:
The Sony Wonder Technology Lab will host award-winning high school and middle school students from the New York City area involved in the nationally recognized FIRST Robotics program, as they demonstrate and share with the public uniquely designed robots they created for recent national robotics competitions. The students will also encourage visitors to interact with their robots in a hands-on learning environment, while teaching them how the robots were made and sharing the challenges, they faced in building them.

FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) was founded in 1989 by Dean Kamen, inventor of the Segway™, to inspire young people’s interest and participation in science and technology. Based in Manchester, New Hampshire, FIRST designs accessible innovative programs to build self-confidence, knowledge and life skills while motivating young people to pursue opportunities in science, technology, engineering and math.

WHO:
FIRST Robotics students from, H. S of Computers and Technology, Stuyvesant and Lehman High School along with MS 217Q will present their robot creations.

WHEN:
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
11:00a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET

WHERE:
The Sony Plaza Atrium
550 Madison Avenue at 56th Street
New York City


7. Two NYC FRC teams were the subject of case stories in the book titled Classroom Robotics: Case Stories of 21st Century Instruction for Millenial Students. by Kathleen, P King and Mark Gura.

One of the case studies is titled Changing the Inner City, One Robot at a Time, written by Evan Weinberg.

The other case study is titled The Morris High School Robotics Team:

An interview with Gary Israel: "Winners at a High Intensity Sport for the Mind".

Click below to see more information about the book which can be purchased on Amazon.com

http://www.infoagepub.com/products/content/978-1-59311-602-6.php


8. Coach Donnie Swanson sent this community project and pictures to a local newspaper. The kids had a ball when the car parked itself.

I.S.75's Lego Robotics Team worked with Mr. I. Iacono, General Manager of Lexus of Manhattan, to show the students how their work with robotics can be applied to real life with their new technology offered in their new line of automobiles (self parking option & anti-collision technology, light sensing automatic headlights and high tech alarm system). The students replicated these features using the new NXT robotics set by Lego Education. What really makes this project stand out was how Lexus of Manhattan took this project even further and drove the latest LS 400 SERIES car to the expo and treated the kids with a demonstration of this car's robotic features. This real-life community connection truly inspired the kids. I heard one of my students turn to his fellow teammate and say, "We know how to do that! We're going to be rich!!!" In my opinion, this type of program truly gets the kids excited to learn. It is a wonderful addition to the middle school curriculum.

For pictures, Contact:
Donny J. Swanson
Intermediate School 75
Lego Robotics Coordinator
(718)356-0130 x4241
mrswansonis75@aol.com


9. Team registered as of July 2: Check info and send corrections

0083 CS 66 X Christopher Blades James Bellon
0160 MS 51K James Hoffman
0189 Automotive HS Bruce Rajswasser Dan Luna, Michael Danza
0192 Automotive HS Bruce Rajswasser Dan Luna, Michael Danza
0195 Automotive HS Bruce Rajswasser Dan Luna, Michael Danza
0196 PS/IS 123 X Chris Gooding Kelleyann Royce
0198 Staten Island Tech HS Dennis Giurici Mike Siegal Robert Brayman
0199 Staten Island Tech HS Dennis Giurici Mike Siegal Robert Brayman
0268 MS 101X Maritime Academy Michele Sikoryak Punit Gandhi
0331 IS 24 SI Raymond Cottrell Jane Frangos
0332 IS 24 SI Raymond Cottrell Jane Frangos
0394 MS 67Q Ruta Dave (NEW)
0447 PS 372 K Rita Fasano Vicki Holland Haiva Albuliwi
0449 PS 372 K Rita Fasano Vicki Holland
0506 Pablo Casals MS 181x Terry Buchalter
0523 Pablo Casals MS 181x Constantine Kouvatsos
0526 East Harlem Tutorial Danny Peralta Joseph Contreras s Matthew Miller
0527 East Harlem Tutorial Danny Peralta Joseph Contreras Matthew Miller
0573 IS 125 Q Rudy Vera
0575 Baccalaureate School For Global Education Melissa Hinson
0705 Globe School for Environmental Research Michael Joyce Paul Riter Paul Cassidy Barbara Hartnett
0707 Globe School for Environmental Research Michael Joyce Paul Riter
Paul Cassidy Barbara Hartnett
0740 PS 57SI Patricia Lockhart (NEW)
0782 PS 148Q Mike Farrell
0783 PS 148Q Mike Farrell
0844 St. Edmund Elementary School Christine Zaremba (NEW)
0845 MS 302 X Sharon Shoatz Richard Shen
0948 MS 217 Q Veryl Greene
0964 PS 107x Adel Assal
0983 PS 193 The Gil Hodges School Stacy Solomon Carol Geier Cynthia McGinty Annabell Corales
0984 PS 193 The Gil Hodges School Stacy Solomon Carol Geier
Cynthia McGinty Annabell Corales
0990 IS 34 SI Joseph Buro Carmen Fuoco
0991 IS 34 SI Joseph Buro Carmen Fuoco
0992 IS 34 SI Joseph Buro Carmen Fuoco
1058 Academy for Scholarship and Entrepreneurship Lillian Sepulveda Rufina Bautista
1408 St. Clare School Mary Lee
1409 St. Clare School Mary Lee
1410 St. Clare School Mary Lee
1411 St. Clare School Mary Lee
1418 Satellite 3/MS 103 Gillian Edwin
1435 Packer Collegiate Inst. Maureen Reilly (NEW SCHOOL, Exp. Coach)
1482 Brooklyn Children’s Museum Gillianne Roberts (NEW)
1483 Brooklyn Children’s Museum Gillianne Roberts (NEW)
1610 PS 270 K The Dekalb School Mitra Lutchman (NEW)
1629 PS/MS 194 Cynthia Khadaran
1634 ESMT IS 190 X Maribeth Whitehouse
1635 IS 318 X Ian Chow-Miller
1654 PS 21K Crispus Attucks School Carla Arnold (NEW)
1680 P723X Christine Walsh (NEW)
1814 IS 230 Q Sonya Rencher Craig Grelarowski
1822 MS 118 X Ralph Corvino
1863 Aviation HS Michael Koumoullos Samantha Gian
1883 Cunningham IS 234K Jack Satz (NEW)
1911 PS 76X The Bennington School Russell Heath
1963 IS 72 SI Deric Borrero
1964 IS 72 SI Deric Borrero
1965 IS 72 SI Deric Borrero
1966 IS 72 SI Deric Borrero
1967 IS 72 SI Deric Borrero
1971 IS 72 SI Deric Borrero
1995 IS 75 SI Donny Swanson
1996 IS 75 SI Donny Swanson
2090 PS 261K Marci Rosa Allisyn Levy Jennifer Lindauer-Thompson (Vet school, New Coaches)

2201 MS 144 x Michaelangelo MS Victoria Lowe Peter Xanthus
2132 IS 98 X Harold Smith
2136 PS 106 x Philip Hamlin
2154 PS 121 X Kathy Bormann Maria Scher
2235 Coen Patrick Coen (NEW) – Homeschool??????
2257 IS 27 SI Bryan Kilgallen
2258 IS 27 SI Bryan Kilgallen
2259 IS 27 SI Bryan Kilgallen
2269 PS 68 X Andrew Harrison Barbara Tully
2284 HS of Computers & Technology X John Mynttinen Bruce Abromowitz Joseph Lewis
2349 PS 103 x Jarret Jackob Linda Marie Matos Cathy Daly
2350 PS 103 x Jarret Jackob Linda Marie Matos Cathy Daly
2395 IS 192 Q Eric Greene
2397 IS 192 Q Eric Greene
2398 The Eagle Academy for Young men Osei Owusu-Afriyie
2415 Kezner Academy @IS 192 X Elizabeth Tremberger
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Saturday, June 09, 2007

NYCFIRST Update #4: Pentathlon/VEX Today at Aviation HS – June 9, 2007

A newsletter for the NYCFIRST robotics community in New York City and the surrounding area. If you want to be removed from this list type “remove” in the subject are and hit return.

Compiled by Norman Scott
NYCFIRST Registration coordinator
norscot@aol.com
917-992-3734

These updates are posted at Norm’s Robotics blog: http://normsrobotics.blogspot.com/


Pentathlon/VEX Today at Aviation HS
A reminder that you’re all invited to come to Aviation HS in Long Island City, Queens today from 9-2 for an exciting day of robotics to be held in the aircraft hanger of the school, tours of the facilities, opportunities to see a variety of aircraft, etc. Last year we were treated to seeing (and hearing) the power of a jet engine. Aviation HS trains students for a wide variety of jobs in the aircraft industry and is truly one of the unique schools in the nation.

The school is located at Queens Blvd and 36th St. in LIC. The #7 train stops a few blocks away.

2007 Region 4 Robotics Pentathlon: June 9 at Aviation HS
Contact Stephen Shapinsky
Technology Staff Developer Region 4
sshapin@schools.nyc.gov
http://www.region4.nycenet.edu/instruction/projects/robotics/lego_flash.php
To see what the event will look like (and get a sense of the events), see the gallery of images from last year at:
http://www.region4.nycenet.edu/instruction/projects/robotics/ss_20060603/


Region 4 VEX tournament on June 9 at Aviation HS
Contact Stephen Shapinsky
A VEX event will be held concurrently with the Pentathlon Challenge on June 9 at Aviation HS.
The Region 4 Spring Vex Challenge is up for viewing or downloading at:
http://www.region4.nycenet.edu/instruction/projects/robotics/vex_flash.php


Registration Report as of June 9: 47 teams
Teams registered since May 30:
1418 Satellite 3/MS 103 Gillian Edwin
1482 Brooklyn Children’s Museum Gillianne Roberts
1483 Brooklyn Children’s Museum Gillianne Roberts
1610 PS 270 K The Dekalb School Mitra Lutchman
1629 PS/MS 194X Cynthia Khadaran
1634 ESMT IS 190 X Maribeth Whitehouse
1635 IS 318 X Ian Chow-Miller
1654 PS 21K Crispus Attucks School Carla Arnold

View spreadsheet of teams previously registered at:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pgxRf3gM4qtyxoYrZWpV8XA&hl=en_US

If you have registered, please check to see if information is current. Notify me of any changes.

If you have any intention of taking part next year, I urge you to register before the school year is out as there is a limited number of field set-up kits. Last year we had problems over this issue with schools scrambling to get kits.

If you can pay now, you should have your set-up kit just about the time you get back to school. If you are also ordering the NXT or RCX materials you will receive those immediately.

If you cannot get a PO now, check the box “Pay with a check” for now and that should let the registration go through. You have until after registration closes at the end of Sept. to pay but nothing will be shipped until you do pay. This will also cause delays in getting you started, especially if you have to track down a PO in the hubbub of the opening weeks of school.

As usual, registration is no guarantee of entry into the citywide event.


FLL Planning Committee Meeting: Qualification Tournaments
We’re still working towards setting up preliminary events that will be more standardized and will include judging. The tight time frame makes things tricky.
We are not at the point in where we can make a final decision as to whether borough/regional tournaments can truly be qualifiers this year but will keep you informed. It is hard to tell how many teams we can expect to register due to the unsettling aspects of the current reorganization and the impact of the extensive testing program being implemented.



The Botline
News & Information from the Carnegie Mellon University Robotics Academy

* * *
ROBOTICS EDUCATORS CONFERENCE PRESENTERS LIST
For Teachers and Administrators Interested in Robotics

* * *

The Robotics Academy is very pleased to announce the addition of many new presenters for the Robotics Educators Conference. The conference is being facilitated by Carnegie Mellon’s Robotics Academy and its partners in the Robotics Corridor project, http://www.roboticscorridor.org

Robotics Educators Conference
August 16 & 17 – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Contact nkerman@rec.ri.cmu.edu

The conference is being hosted at Butler County Community College, one of the premier Community Colleges in the United States, which is located 20 miles north of Pittsburgh. The conference will allow regional and national educators to look various options to teach robotics education.

New presenters at the conference include:

Dr. Robert Rasmussen, Director of Tufts Center for Engineering Education Outreach. Dr. Rasmussen will present resources that are available through http://www.legoengineering.com/

Dick Swan, programmer; developer of ROBOTC. Dick will share inside secrets that will allow your robot to perform better. ROBOTC is becoming a standard in educational robotics. Currently ROBOTC talks to the RCX, VEX, NXT, FIRST controller, and other pic controllers. Dick will offer beginner and advanced sessions. http://www.robotc.net/

Dennis Batemen, project manager for ROBOT250: ROBOT250 is an idea inspired by Illah Nourbakhsh, Carnegie Mellon faculty. ROBOT250 is a celebration of robotics across western Pennsylvania. See http://www.robot250.com/

Dr. Stan Komacek, California University of Pennsylvania. Stan will be presenting accomplishments of the Robotics 2+2+2 Initiative. The 2+2+2 project is starting it’s third year this fall and is making a difference in how children learn.

Professor Jeanine Meyers, Purchase College. Jeanine is master teacher who uses innovative ways to excite her students about programming. Jeanine will talk about implanting a robotics program despite limited support and resources at Purchase College. See http://newmedia.purchase.edu/~Jeanine/charts.html

Tom Burick, inventor of the PC-BOT, winner of FUTURE TECHNOLOGY’S BEST IN SHOW AWARD at the Digital Life exhibition in New York. PC-BOT designer Tom will showcase this new technology that begins to preview some of the future applications of robotics. See http://www.whiteboxrobotics.com/PCBOTs/index.html

Professor CJ Chung, Lawrence Technological University, founder of ROBOFEST. CJ will let us know how we can be part of http://www.robofest.org/ a very inexpensive solution for educators everywhere.

Terri Varnado, faculty, North Carolina State College. Terri prepares technology education teachers to teach about technology. She will talk about her research in education, technology, and robotics. It will be a very good talk.

Dr. Catherine Helgoe, LEGO Education International. Cathy will be presenting using the NXT in classrooms across the world to teach technological literacy and mathematical competency.

Denton Daily, faculty, Butler County Community College; author of Electronic Devices and Circuits: Discrete and Integrated; project lead for the Robotics Corridor Project for BC3. Denton will demonstrate electronics and embedded systems that he teaches in his classes and will be making available to teachers nationally.

Professor Michael Amrhein, California University of Pennsylvania; California University VEX Robotics Competition. Mike is currently teaching the first year robotics course at California University. Mike will discuss the outline of his course as well as his annual VEX robotics competition at California University.

George Bilokonsky, director, Cuyahoga Community College Youth Technology Academy. George will present his comprehensive robotics intervention program and how his team is working with inner city youth in Cleveland, Ohio. His Youth Technology Academy has won numerous prestigious awards. George will share his research; what he’s learned as well as the future of his program.

TeRK – The telepresence educational robotics kit + Gigapan. Developed in Illah Nourbakaush’s lab, TeRK may be the next generation controller for robotic enthusiasts across the globe. To preview these exciting technologies go to: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~globalconn/gigapan.html and http://www.terk.ri.cmu.edu/

Eli Silk, researcher, University of Pittsburgh / Ross Higashi, Carnegie Mellon University. Eli and Ross will present the lessons that they’ve learned in the first year of a three year study that involves mapping what robotics teaches with standards covered in education today.

Dr. Michael Donohoe, project manager, robotics associate degree development, California University of Pennsylvania. Mike left a senior management position with Respironics Inc. to change children’s lives through robotics. Mike will present his vision of the California University Robotics Corridor Project. At CALU they are developing an associate degree program in robotics with articulation agreements with high schools and community colleges across the United States.

Carmen Grosse, BotsIQ western Pennsylvania. Carmen has been instrumental in bringing the BotsIQ competition to Western Pa. Carmen will introduce several teachers and allow them to tell their stories. See http://www.battlebotsiqpa.org/

There will be many other presentations about robotic solutions in schools.

For more information about the conference or presenting, contact Robin Shoop at rshoop@cmu.edu

See you there.

Robin
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