Hello Readers, today I am repurposing an e-mail from Mark Knittel, a Board Member of TAG, WTIA's Bellingham area partner.  He is looking for support for the FIRST robotics program at Sehome HS in Bellingham. 

FIRST is an excellent program for which WTIA has supported state funding.  The following information gives a history of FIRST, what the program does, how to get involved, links to additional information and contact information.  There may be a FIRST program at a high school near you.  Find out and get involved.  Thank you.

Greetings TAG members and followers:

For any of you that were at the November monthly TAG NW meeting, you’ll recall the inspiring presentation at the start of the meeting by Kevin Criez – a teacher at Sehome High School who introduced everyone to the FIRST Robotics national competition that Sehome High School is hoping to participate in this year. As a local business owner & TAG NW Board member, I sincerely believe the FIRST program is a great way to stimulate our younger students to pursue careers in science and technology related fields, and to prepare the future pool of talent that we will need to make Whatcom County an attractive location for technology companies at the same time. I’m sending you this email on behalf of the Technology Alliance Group for NW WA (TAG) Board because the FIRST program at Sehome High needs our support this year in two areas: 

-        Financial: Registration, materials, and travel expenses are expected to total around $13k. Kevin and the students have already managed to secure approximately half of the requirement from local business donors like BP, Murdock Trust, etc., but they still need help with the remainder. It’s not a lot, but it’s money that is not available in the school district budget, so if you or your business can find a way to help and would like to become a sponsor, please send a check directly to Kevin Criez at the address below, or call/email either Kevin or myself (contact info below) and we’ll make other arrangements.

-        Advisors: One of the great features of the FIRST process is that student teams are allowed (and even encouraged) to get consultative assistance from local volunteers of any age or profession (just to be clear – the kids still have to actually build the robot on their own). This is a great way to build a relationship between the students and members of the local business/research/education communities that kids will hopefully see as role models for future careers. If you have skills in electronics, programming, mechanical engineering, CAD, project management, etc., please consider volunteering some time to meet with the students and participate in their exciting project for 2010! 

Since it's inception just over 20 years ago, the nationwide FIRST program has grown to include nearly 200,000 students from over 1800 schools. As you might imagine, the Seattle/Everett area already has a large number of teams, partly due to the influence of larger firms such as Boeing, Microsoft, etc. As a TAG NW Board member responsible for ‘workforce development’ my vision is to foster the development of a large tech-ready workforce in Whatcom County, partly through the establishment of a local FIRST Robotics program that reaches all school districts and age groups, and rivals the relative scope and reach of the Seattle program. The Sehome High 2010 team is a great place to start that process; a similar program is just getting underway at Squalicum High, with more to follow if the funding and community support materialize.

If you’d like more information, you’ll find a short overview of the national FIRST organization and a web site link below. Otherwise, on behalf of myself and the rest of the TAG Board, I’d like to ask that you consider supporting the FIRST Robotics program this year at Sehome High.  As the team progresses towards the actual competition we will be sending out periodic updates to the TAG membership, and will recognize all sponsors and consultants in those updates.If you have any other suggestions on how to support the team, or any other general ideas on how we can move forward in the area of workforce development, please do not hesitate to contact me. I would love to meet with you to discuss it. 

Thank you for your generosity, and Happy Holidays!

Mark Knittel & the TAG Board

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FIRST Overview

FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is an organization founded by inventor Dean Kamen in 1989 in order to develop ways to inspire students to pursue careers in engineering and technology fields. Every year over 1,800 high school teams of 45,000+ students from the U.S. and many other countries compete to build 100 to 120 pound robots that can complete a task that changes every year. Teams are given a standard set of parts and the game details at the beginning of January and have just six weeks to construct a competitive robot that can operate autonomously and be guided by wireless controls to accomplish the game's tasks. In addition to the high school competition an additional 150,000 students are expected to participate this year in FIRST leagues in elementary and middle school, laying the groundwork for future high school FIRST competitors. 

The vision for FIRST as articulated by Dean Kamen is: "To transform our culture by creating a world where science and technology are celebrated and where young people dream of becoming science and technology heroes."  A recent study by Brandeis University of FIRST program graduates across the country clearly demonstrates the benefits  – students that participate in FIRST are significantly more successful and involved in the community. Compared to a similar reference group, the FIRST students were:  

·  More than 3 times as likely to major specifically in engineering.

·  Roughly 10 times as likely to have had an apprenticeship, internship, or co-op job in their freshman year of college.

·  Significantly more likely to expect to achieve a post graduate degree.

·  More than twice as likely to expect to pursue a career in science and technology.

·  Nearly 4 times as likely to expect to pursue a career specifically in engineering.

·  More than twice as likely to volunteer in their communities.

The experience at Sehome High School over the previous two years has shown similar results, and the interest there continues to grow rapidly. This is an effort that Kevin Criez has personally taken on himself, and it’s an inspiring story: Kevin is a shop teacher at Sehome High School that has taught himself to teach Applied Physics and Mechanical Engineering as preparation classes for students wishing to participate in the program. He’s gone a long way with only a little support so far – now we need to step up to help move the program to the next level!

Links:

-        General FIRST information: http://www.usfirst.org/default.aspx

-        Brochure: http://www.usfirst.org/uploadedFiles/WhatisFIRST_Brochure.pdf

-        First at a Glance: http://www.usfirst.org/aboutus/content.aspx?id=160

Contacts:

Kevin Criez

Sehome High School

2700 Bill McDonald Parkway

Bellingham, WA 98225

kcriez@bham.wednet.edu

Mark Knittel

Owner, Data Doctors Computer Services

Bellingham, Washington 98225

360-389-2280 (Mobile)

360-527-8679 (Business)

mark.knittel@datadoctors-bellingham