St. Johnsbury Academy Awarded NASA Grant to Enter FIRST Robotics Competition

St. Johnsbury Academy's Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STeM) program has been awarded a $6,000 Program Growth sponsorship grant from NASA that will help the Academy students enter an upcoming regional robotics competition.

Awarded by the NASA Robotics Alliance Project, the grant will pay the Academy's entry fee for the 2007-2008 FIRST Robotics Competition, as well as a kit of parts required for the event.

The Academy is the only Vermont high school awarded a NASA grant and one of only seven in New England.

FIRST is a non-profit organization founded in 1989 by New Hampshire inventor and entrepreneur Dean Kamen to encourage American young people to explore the possibilities of science careers as engineers and researchers. Competitions sponsored by the organization also focus on developing self-confidence, leadership, and life skills.

Supported by 60,000 volunteers and a network of over 2,000 corporations, educational and professional institutions, and individuals, FIRST programs and competitions have reached approximately 130,000 students ranging from age 6 to adult.

The FIRST Robotics Competition challenges teams of high school students and their mentors to solve a common problem in a six-week timeframe using a standard "kit of parts" and common set of rules. Teams build robots from the parts and enter them in competitions designed by Mr. Kamen, Dr. Woodie Flowers, a professor of mechanical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and a committee of engineers and other professionals.

NASA's Robotics Alliance Project seeks to "expand the national resource of experienced, talented robotics experts that are available to develop future robotics systems needed by NASA and support the national investment in the robotics market," according to the Project's website.

The Project attempts to achieve that goal by supporting robotics competition programs that inspire students to become involved with technical fields, facilitating robotics curriculum enhancements at all educational levels, and developing a national clearinghouse for robotics education and career resources.

Although the grant will pay the cost of the competition entry fee, the Academy team estimates it will need an additional $6,000 to purchase additional parts and cover travel expenses.

"I've heard that some schools spend in excess of $100,000 on this event, but they have corporate sponsors," including Boston Scientific Corporation, Baxter International Incorporated, Daimler Chrysler Corporation Fund, DEKA Research & Development Corp., and others, said Dr. Elaine Parshall, Director of the STeM Program and the Allen D. Christensen Chair in Engineering.

Seniors Brendan Considine and Christopher Fitzhugh wrote the majority of the grant application with Considine preparing the narrative portion and Fitzhugh doing the budget calculations. The grant can be renewed for the next two years.

STeM was launched in 2006 with the goal of increasing the number of students who enroll and succeed in college engineering programs. Offering four college-level engineering classes, the program focuses on hands-on experience in problem solving, teamwork, and project-based learning.

STeM is also affiliated with the nationally recognized "Project Lead the Way" program, which aims to increase the number of students -- particularly young women and other students traditionally under-represented in engineering -- in science and technology programs.

"Robotics fits well with the STeM program," Parshall said. "It involves engineering design, and uses many aspects of mechanical engineering, 3-D modeling, electronics, and computer programming. It has a humanistic element as well, which tends to be neglected in traditional engineering courses, because you have to learn how to work with others in this event."

Additional information about FIRST and the NASA project is available through their respective websites: www.usfirst.org and http://robotics.nasa.gov.

More information about the Academy's STeM Program, directed by Dr. Elaine Parshall, is available by visiting www.stjohnsburyacademy.org.

St. Johnsbury Academy Awarded NASA Grant to Enter FIRST Robotics Competition

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St. Johnsbury Academy Awarded NASA Grant to Enter FIRST Robotics Competition

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