[Yr11 Information Technology] Wanted! Girls to field a FRC Team!

[Therese Keane]

Greetings!
Milorad Cerovc and i would like to field an all girl FRC Team, in the inaugural regional FRC event in March in Sydney next year. FIRST is kindly providing funding for a rookie team which would almost offset the cost of purchasing the FRC kit. The remainder of the funding would be provided from alternative sources as it is still unrealistic to have individuals or schools provide the substantial amount of money required. The FRC is a varsity sport for the mind, combining a unique sporting challenge with the rigours of science and technology. Teams have limited time (i.e. six weeks) and money to build a 40-50 kg robot using industry hardware and software to compete in the challenge. The emphasis is on fun and challenging oneself; it’s not about awards. The benefits to  students have been profound, with students previously not contemplating engineering now including it as their top choices. It is not only for students considering engineering. In the past students from Arts and Business Management has helped out, as each team functions as a miniature business unit. Furthermore, skills such as problem solving, communication and team work are readily portable to any discipline, not just engineering. So the students do learn many valuable skills, irrespective of their eventual studies.

The FRC is open to students between 14-18 years of age. ( http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/frc)

We would like to field a team of about 10 girls in the first year and cap it at 20. We currently have two girls interested however we need at least 6 more to field a team. This team will be mentored by some of the world's best engineers from the likes of BAE Systems, and will include a number of their female engineers. Milorad is more than happy to come and have a chat to any interested school to explain the FRC in more detail, as well as the benefits.
There are no costs involved to the girls or the school in joining the team. The only cost would be if the student is interested in travelling to Sydney to compete at the Australian regional event which will be held over the three day period of March 12 to March 14. The cost for attending this regional event would consist of their return airfare and accommodation (typically three nights) in Sydney. The team will be based either in Armadale or the Bayside area. The project will commence with a series of workshops (general "mechanical" construction, LabView programming, CAD modelling) which will run after school in December (exact dates to be confirmed) and conducted by BAE Systems and Autodesk. Robot building will commence in mid-January and run for no more than six weeks. The girls don't need to come to every build session, but we would expect them to come to at least one per week. The plan is to run three build sessions per week. More information on the build sessions will be provided later.
I have attached a YouTube video to provide a bit more of an insight into what the FRC is all about https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vQgZCvNKNE


I would be happy to hear from anyone who has interested students.


Many thanks and best regards
Therese

Dr Therese Keane
Lecturer in ICT Skills Development
Faculty of Science, Engineering & Technology
Room: EN502b
Phone: (+613) 9214 8579
Fax: (+613) 9819 0823

Twitter: #SwinEdTech

Swinburne University,
PO Box 218 Hawthorn,
Victoria 3122 AUSTRALIA
CRICOS Provider 0011D

http://www.swinburne.edu.au/science-engineering-technology/staff-profiles/view.php?who=tkeane
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