Students & technical mentors invited to Jan. 4 Robotics Club meeting

Employers & College offer parts, tools, funds and technical skills to inspire future workforce

ROCKLIN – High school students can find out about joining the South Placer Robotics team that will compete in the FIRST Robotics Competition at a meeting on January 4 at 6:30 PM at Granite Bay High School in room 611. Potential team mentors with electrical, programming in C+, pneumatics, mechanics, and chassis and drive systems experience are invited too.

Starting January 6, the team has six weeks to design and build a 120 pound robot out of a common set of parts and then pilot the robot in the FIRST Robotics competition (www.usfirst.org ). Over 32,500 high-school students on 1,310 teams from six countries are expected to compete in 2007. Students who like building Lego Mindstorms or K’nex, figuring out how things work by tinkering and learning by doing are a natural match for this club.

Sierra College and local employers support the club because students who participate in FIRST are more likely to pursue technical education and careers. These students become interested in engineering, fabricating, manufacturing, electronics, mechanics, pneumatics, programming and computer control. The club builds our future technical workforce. Business can participate by:

Contributing Funds -- INTEL contributed $6200 for the entry fee and materials. Sierra College Center for Applied Competitive Technologies contributes funding, technical advice and resources.

Donating Materials -- Spare bolts, sprockets, terminals, rods, aluminum and other parts could help build the team’s robot. See SierraCollegeTraining.com for parts list.

Providing Tools -- TIG Welder, CNC mini mill, plasma cutter and metal shears.

Mentoring -- Mentors coach small teams by asking questions to help students discover their own answers. They’ll guide students through the process of strategy, modeling, designing, building and integrating. Mentors are needed with electrical, programming in C+, pneumatics, mechanics, and chassis and drive systems experience.

For more information, high school students can contact Stephen Miller, GBHS Physics instructor, at (916) 786-8676 x5611 or smiller@rjuhsd.us. To volunteer as a mentor, or make a donation of materials or money to the club, contact Carol Pepper-Kittredge, Sierra College CACT Director, at 916-781-6288 or cpeppper-kittredge@sierracollege.edu.

The mission of the Center for Applied Competitive Technologies is to support companies with employee training, technology deployment and industry development. Since 1997, the Sierra College CACT has supported manufacturers and technology companies in Northern California from Sacramento to the Oregon border.