April 3, 2001

Southeast Raleigh High School and NC State Mechanical Engineering Students Participate in ASME/IBM-Sponsored FIRST 2001 Program

NC State students (left to right) Jason Rivenbark,
Bobby Lee, Greg Hyland, Michael Galloway and
Andy Crawford pose with their FIRST champion
robot at the regional competition at
Virginia Commonwealth University.

Students from Southeast Raleigh High School and North Carolina State University are participating for the second year in a unique and spirited mentoring program called FIRST (For Interpretation and Recognition of Science and Technology). IBM and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) are supporters of this program.

According to the FIRST Competition Web page (www.usfirst.rog/2001comp/compinfo.html), the program is a national contest that introduces high school students to the engineering profession. "In six intense weeks, students and engineers work together to brainstorm, design, construct and test their ‘champion robot.’"

The competition is different every year, which provides fresh challenges for the teams. Last year NC State students from electrical and computer engineering participated in the program. This year 21 mechanical engineering students taking the Analysis for Mechanical Engineering Design course (MAE 415), under the guidance of Dr. Bruce LaMattina, adjunct professor of mechanical engineering, will work with 20 high school students.

The rules are simple – the students have six weeks from the day the parameters of the project are announced until the competition – but the challenge is always complex. Students must work together efficiently to accomplish their task. Each team receives a generic kit containing a motor, pneumatics, materials and a control system; the design for the robot is completely up to the students.

"Working through the challenges and putting egos aside are two necessary elements for the success of the program," said LaMattina. A delicate balance must be achieved among the advisors, the mentors and the students.

The rewards are many, though, for everyone concerned, according to LaMattina. For the NC State students, the activities of the program result in concurrent teaching and learning experiences – a unique situation for college undergraduates. These students advise, help with engineering calculations and mechanical drawing, perform machining that the high school students don’t have facilities to do, demonstrate concepts and basic engineering principles and experience the joys and challenges of hands-on mentoring.

"The mentoring aspect of FIRST was evident on this team through the interactions of everyone involved. I think the competition is a very effective learning tool," LaMattina noted. Everyone learned from the experience – advisors and engineers as well as high school and NC State mechanical engineering students. The high school students could see where they might be a few years down the road, and the NC State students gained insight through explaining basic engineering concepts. FIRST really provides a peer learning situation because most of the college students are only three or four years older than the high school students. According to La Mattina, there was great admiration and respect between the two sets of students.

The regional competition for 68 participants was held March 8 through 10, 2001, at Virginia Commonwealth University. According to La Mattina, teamwork among Southeast Raleigh High School, NC State and IBM paid off in a big way at the regionals. The team finished in first place and received the Team Spirit Award. A first-place medal was awarded to the team along with their alliance partners from four other high schools (teams work together to accomplish a common goal in each round). In addition, the NC State team was part of the alliance that scored the highest point total (212 points) for the entire competition. During the presentation of the Team Spirit Award, the presenter cited the close-knit relationship among the high school students, NC State students, engineers, parents and the school community as one of the reasons for receiving the award. "We couldn’t ask for a better group of people to work with; the teamwork was tremendous, and the good of the team was always paramount," said LaMattina.

The national competition is scheduled April 5 through 8 at Epcot® Center at Walt Disney World® in Orlando, Florida.

-- rudd --

Technical Contact:Dr. Bruce LaMattina, 919/515-5283 or blamatt@eos.ncsu.edu
Media Contact: Linda E. Rudd, 919/515-3848 or linda_rudd@ncsu.edu

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