2014 Huskie Robotics Parent Kickoff

Huskie Robotics

Welcomes Parents!

Tonight’s Agenda

•Why is robotics awesome?

•Who are the Friends of Robotics?

•Where is the team headed?

•What are the expenses?

•What were the biggest challenges last year?

• How can parents help?

Why Robotics is

Awesome

• Develop New Skills

• Scholarships

• Leadership

• Helpful when applying to college

• Fun videos

Developing New Skills

• Engineering

• Fabrication

• Programming

• Project Management

• Marketing

• Strategy

• Data Analysis

• Media

• Time Management

• Design

• Collaboration

FIRST Student

Scholarships and

Internships• over $16 million in scholarships

• 780 scholarship opportunities

• 148 scholarship providers

• FIRST Team 3061 alumni have received scholarships

• Scholarships

www.usfirst.org/aboutus/scholarships

• Internships

www.usfirst.org/aboutus/internships

Opportunities for

Leadership

• Huskie Robotics

• FLL

Applying to College

• Robotics gives your student something

very meaningful to write about on their

college applications

• Teamwork, leadership, problem solving,

design, programming, media, marketing

Where last year’s

Seniors are attending

college• Iowa State

• Caltech

• Olin College of

Engineering

• Howard University

• Purdue

• Bradley

• Northern Illinois

• University of Illinois-

Urbana Champaign

• MIT

• Case-Western

• Northwestern

• University of

Washington

Huskie Robotics

• Team 3061 video

Tonight’s Agenda

•Why is robotics awesome?

•Who are the Friends of Robotics?

•Where is the team headed?

•What are the expenses?

•What were the biggest challenges last year?

• How can parents help?

Why Friends of

Robotics was formed

• Teachers/Coaches are amazing and

work extremely hard

• Big team / few coaches / long hours

Tonight’s Agenda

•Why is robotics awesome?

•Who are the Friends of Robotics?

•Where is the team headed?

•What are the expenses?

•What were the biggest challenges last year?

• How can parents help?

•What is the history of the team?

•Where are our goals?

•What are we doing now?

•What will we be doing in January?

Where are we headed?

Huskie Robotics

2014 Midwest Regional Gracious Professionalism

Award

2014 Midwest Regional Quarterfinalist

2013 World Championships Participant

2013 Northern Lights Regional Champion

2013 Midwest Regional Quarterfinalist

2012 Midwest Regional Gracious Professionalism

2012 Midwest Regional Semifinalist

2009 Founded

Our Goal

• design, build, test a

• 5-foot tall, 120-pound robot

• that performs multiple complex tasks

• in a period of 6 weeks

• based on a kit of parts & $4000 allowance

• constrained by 100s of rules

The Real Goal

• inspire young people to become science and

technology leaders

• engage them in mentor-based programs that

• build science, engineering, and technology

skills

• inspire innovation

• foster self-confidence, communication, and

leadership

•What is the history of the team?

•Where are our goals?

•What are we doing now?

•What will we be doing in January?

Where are we headed?

Weekly Meetings

•meeting every Wednesday after school

• until 5:30 pm

• organized into ten teams working on

various projects and developing skills

necessary for the build season

Students are

• building a team

• getting organized

• developing new skills

• learning from mentors

• preparing for the build season

Co-Curricular Meeting

• required once during high school

Huskie Robotics

Spirit Wear

• students receive two orange t-shirts

• parents, students, and siblings are

welcome to order Huskie Robotics spirit

wear

• t-shirts, long-sleeve shirts, polo shirts,

sweatshirts

• forms and money due soon

•What is the history of the team?

•Where are our goals?

•What are we doing now?

•What will we be doing in January?

Where are we headed?

FRC 2015 Kickoff

•Who: entire team

•Where: NNHS

•When: Saturday, January 3, 2015

• all day (times TBD)

•Why: watch the unveiling of the game;

brainstorm on strategy

2015 Build Season

• Who: entire team

• Where: NNHS

• When:

• January 5th - April 4th

• Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays;

3:30 pm to 9 pm

• Saturdays; 8 am - 4 pm

• student time commitment is flexible

• Why: optimize productivity

2015 Stop Build Day

• Huge Milestone!

• February 17th, 2015, 11:59 pm

• The robot must be bagged and tagged

• We will continue building and testing our

second (practice) robot

Rock City Regional

•Who: varsity team (must apply)

•Where: Little Rock, AR

•When: March 4-7, 2015

•Why: warm-up event

Midwest Regional

• Who: entire team, parents, families, sponsors,

mentors

• Where: UIC Pavilion (depart from NNHS)

• When:

• Wednesday, April 1 (skeleton crew unload)

• Thursday, April 2 (varsity team setup and test)

• Friday and Saturday, April 3-4, 2015

• Why: show the home crowd what we can do!

After Regionals

•World Championships?

• April 22-25

• outreach activities

• sleep

Tonight’s Agenda

•Why is robotics awesome?

•Who are the Friends of Robotics?

•Where is the team headed?

•What are the finances and expenses?

•What were the biggest challenges last year?

• How can parents help?

Finances

• $35K budget

(completely supported by corporate partners

and covers very large entrance fees, parts,

and other expenses that are completely

different than the student fees)

• corporate sponsorship

• student fees (2 T-shirts, safety glasses,

dinners during the week, the Kick-off Meeting,

meals at Midwest)

Team Support

• significant financial and mentoring

support from:

Navistar, Motorola Solutions, Exelon,

Molex, Grid Connect, and Lextech!

• significant materials and fabrication

support from:

Cut, Create, Invent!

• grant from NNHS Boosters!

Student Fees

• $190 due November 12th

• covers:

• two new t-shirts and one pair of safety glasses

• lunch at kickoff

• dinner at weekday meetings (Monday, Wednesday and

Thursday as well as final build day)

• transportation and meals

for Midwest Regional (Fri & Sat)

• does not cover:

• any other competitions (Rock City or Championship)

• contact Geoff Schmit or Mark Rowzee if the fee is prohibitive

Tonight’s Agenda

•Why is robotics awesome?

•Who are the Friends of Robotics?

•Where is the team headed?

•What are the finances and expenses?

•What were the biggest challenges last year?

• How can parents help?

Challenges

• Feeding 60+ students

• Challenge of keeping students positively

engaged

• Challenges managing dozens of

students at regional competitions

Signup

•We need parents to signup for two volunteer

opportunities

• 1. Pickup food and cleanup

• 2. Chaperone until 9 pm (all chaperones must complete

background check with District 203)

• If you provided a contact email you will receive a link.

• If not, send an email to gschmit@Naperville203.org to

be added to the group distribution and cc:

team3061.friends.of.robotics@gmail.com to receive the

link.

More Volunteers

Needed• Pickup the kit of parts on Kickoff Day at IIT in

Chicago. 2 people.

• Spirit wear. Collect $, order and distribute at meeting.

1-2 people.

• Yard Signs proclaiming how amazing your kid is.

Pickup and Distribution. 1-2 people.

(nnhsboosters.org/wp-

content/uploads/2014/07/Winter-Season-14-15.pdf).

• Pickup lunch on Kickoff Day. Drop off, cleanup at

NNHS Small Cafe. 1 Person.

Help!

• share potential corporate sponsors

(financial, materials, facilities, mentors)

•mentor (engineering, marketing,

communications, business, software)

• cheer at the Regional Competitions

• volunteer!

Be a Mentor

•Mentor Kickoff Meeting; Wednesday,

November 12, 6pm in room 115

Outreach

•Why is outreach important?

• Part of the mission of FIRST

• Developing future interest in the team

• Leadership and mentoring opportunities

• Value for our sponsors

Upcoming Outreach

Opportunities

• Mentoring FLL teams - Thursdays, Fridays,

Sundays (ongoing)

• FLL Scrimmages - Nov 8-9 and Nov 21-22

• FLL Tournament - Dec 5, 6, and 7

• Info available on Canvas - please encourage

your students to sign up.

Help Your Daughter or

Son Prioritize• FRC is the hardest fun they will ever have

• for some, Huskie Robotics will be the seminal event of

high school

• robotics is addictive

• academics must come first; students are never required

to be at meetings and never required to stay for the entire

meeting

• we will not allow students to participate in meetings or

competitions if they are failing as defined by NNHS policy

(2 classes).

Communication

• Geoff Schmit:

gschmit@naperville203.org

• Mark Rowzee:

mrowzee@naperville203.org

• Kyle Girup:

kgirup@naperville203.org

• public web site: http://team3061.org/

• Canvas: all critical information and forms

• Friends of Robotics:

team3061.friends.of.robotics@gmail.com

Parent Mailing List

• sign up tonight

• send me an email:

gschmit@naperville203.org

• This will help ensure that you can signup

to volunteer online.