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Eighteen students from E.C. Glass have been working the past six weeks with teachers and engineers from Framatome, Ericsson, and Kincaid-Jennings to design, build, and test a robot to enter in the regional FIRST Robotics competition.  The competition will be held March 9-10 at VCU in Richmond.  All funds for entering the contest, manufacture of the robot, as well as travel and lodging have been provided by the Virginia Business Education Partnership and Framatome.  Kincaid-Jennings has provided much of the electrical hardware as well as other items needed for construction of various parts of the robot.

The FIRST Robotics Competition is a national engineering contest which immerses high school students in the exciting world of engineering. Teaming up with engineers from businesses and universities, students get a hands-on, inside look at the engineering profession. In six intense weeks, students and engineers work together to brainstorm, design, construct and test their "champion robot". With only six weeks, all jobs are critical path. The teams then compete in a spirited, no-holds-barred tournament complete with referees, cheerleaders and time clocks.

The partnerships developed between schools, businesses, and universities provide an exchange of resources and talent, highlighting mutual needs, building cooperation, and exposing students to new career choices. The result is a fun, exciting and stimulating environment in which all participants discover the important connection between classroom lessons and real world applications.

 Each year, the competition is different, so returning teams always have a new challenge to look forward to. However, the details are kept secret until the unveiling at the Kick-Off workshop. This provides a high level of excitement as everyone sees the new challenge for the first time and ideas immediately begin forming in people's minds.

Anthony Cardoza
E.C. Glass HS