There’s a new team in town, and you can be a part of it.
On Tuesday, members of the Goodrich Martians Robotics Team brought their latest robot creation to Oxford High School to inspire students to join the new Oxford team.
The Oxford FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Team is looking for any high school students interested in innovative engineering.
OHS science teacher Amy Michaels said numerous students and parents have shown interest in having such a team, and now it seems to be coming to fruition.
Michaels said she was able to secure a grant from the State of Michigan for the rookie team and a NASA Robotic Alliance Project grant totaling $12,000 for the team.
‘That will be enough for us to have the kits and will also be enough to go to our two competitions and T-shirts and things like that,? Michaels said.
Students are also responsible for creating a logo, to create publicity and to come up with a design for their robot.
The FIRST Robotics Competition is an multinational competition that teams professionals and young people to solve an engineering design problem in an intense and competitive way.
In 2007, the competition will reach over 30,000 high-school-aged young people on over 1,300 teams in 37 regional events.
The competitions are high-tech spectator sporting events, the result of lots of focused brainstorming, real-world teamwork, dedicated mentoring, project timelines, and deadlines.
The competition shows students that the technological fields hold many opportunities and that the basic concepts of science, math, engineering, and invention are exciting and interesting.
The kick-off for the competition is the first week of January, where Michaels said teams will get their kits to make a robot. Six weeks later, the teams will compete sometime in March.
‘They tell you what game you’ll be playing, they’ll tell you how you have to design your robot to play this game,? she said.
Michaels is hoping to get ‘as many kids as we can? to join the team, and knows many students who were part of the FIRST LEGO League in elementary school will be interested in joining.
The Oxford FIRST Robotics Team will have an informational meeting on Tuesday, December 5 in room 223 at the high school at 3 p.m.
Call Amy Michaels at (248) 969-5100, or e-mail her at michae01@oxford.k12.mi.us for more information.