Spring Break
DAC Packed with brains and brawn
Ali Qari
Issue date: 4/6/07 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
More than 1,200 high school students put on their thinking caps in the Dakalaskis Athletic Center March 29 through 31 for the Philadelphia Regional FIRST Robotics Competition. The University hosted students from over 40 high schools, some coming from as far away as California.
The upper level of the DAC was as loud as a championship basketball game and sporting event music staples like "Cotton-Eyed Joe" played in the background while 44 student-operated robots battled in a game coined, "Rack 'N' Roll". The object of the game was to hang as many inflatable inner tubes onto large, multi-pronged rack. The team with the most inner tubes placed would win.
The wild atmosphere of the For Inspiration Recognition of Science and Technology Robotics competition is just what the Dean Kamen, the founder of the organization had intended. Kamen, the winner of Drexel University's 2007 Engineer of the Year, founded FIRST in hopes of creating an organization that will get kids excited about science and technology. To accomplish his goals, Kamen modeled the competition after a real sporting event.
"It's just like an athletic event, but it's more like mental athletics," Owen Parker said, a competitor at the event whose voice was hoarse from cheering his teammates on all day.
Parker is currently a student at St. John's University and a three-year veteran of the competition. He now serves as a mentor to kids from the Windsor, Conn. Area team, who made it to the second round of the semifinals in the competition.
"The robotics competition has all the elements of a sports event," Parker said. "The only different is that each person on our team is involved in every element of the game. Everyone person is part player, part coach, and part cheerleader. The whole team is on the same level."
The winners of the Philadelphia Regional FIRST Competition consisted of three teams: Northeast Pa. Tech Prep Consortium, which included Athens Area School District, Northeast Bradford School District, Towanda Area School District, and Troy Area School District; Wissahickon High School and North Montco Technical Career Center from Ambler, Pa.; and Hartford Public Schools from Hartford, Conn.
The winners will compete in the FIRST National Championship in Atlanta, Ga. this month.
The upper level of the DAC was as loud as a championship basketball game and sporting event music staples like "Cotton-Eyed Joe" played in the background while 44 student-operated robots battled in a game coined, "Rack 'N' Roll". The object of the game was to hang as many inflatable inner tubes onto large, multi-pronged rack. The team with the most inner tubes placed would win.
The wild atmosphere of the For Inspiration Recognition of Science and Technology Robotics competition is just what the Dean Kamen, the founder of the organization had intended. Kamen, the winner of Drexel University's 2007 Engineer of the Year, founded FIRST in hopes of creating an organization that will get kids excited about science and technology. To accomplish his goals, Kamen modeled the competition after a real sporting event.
"It's just like an athletic event, but it's more like mental athletics," Owen Parker said, a competitor at the event whose voice was hoarse from cheering his teammates on all day.
Parker is currently a student at St. John's University and a three-year veteran of the competition. He now serves as a mentor to kids from the Windsor, Conn. Area team, who made it to the second round of the semifinals in the competition.
"The robotics competition has all the elements of a sports event," Parker said. "The only different is that each person on our team is involved in every element of the game. Everyone person is part player, part coach, and part cheerleader. The whole team is on the same level."
The winners of the Philadelphia Regional FIRST Competition consisted of three teams: Northeast Pa. Tech Prep Consortium, which included Athens Area School District, Northeast Bradford School District, Towanda Area School District, and Troy Area School District; Wissahickon High School and North Montco Technical Career Center from Ambler, Pa.; and Hartford Public Schools from Hartford, Conn.
The winners will compete in the FIRST National Championship in Atlanta, Ga. this month.
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