G.I.R.L.S. Girls in Robotics - A short film featuring team 4488 Shockwave

[Jean Tenca]

This season we've been lucky enough to have a videography college student, Rachel Bracker, following us and teaching our students about film making. She recently made this short film about girls in robotics featuring our team. We're very proud to show it and hope you enjoy.

Video here

When we asked her to write up a little about herself and why she made this video to throw into a CD post, we were sincerely humbled by her response:

I'm a videographer and master’s candidate in the University of Oregon’s multimedia journalism program, and I came to Shockwave Team 4488 curious about robots.

Tasked with producing a short documentary film surrounding the theme “making a difference” for my graduate program, I could have chosen any number of topics to cover. But for me, focusing on robotics and the difference access to programs like that of Glencoe High School’s can make in a student’s life was the obvious choice.

Although the tech industry is growing, the participation of women in the industry is actually declining. Thinking about the bigger picture, it seemed to me that the FIRST Robotics Competition, with it’s worldwide scope and entertaining appeal, would be the perfect event to build a story around that would hopefully inspire young women to join a robotics team at their school.

I started going to several robotics meetings at Glencoe, and I found many aspects of Team Shockwave inspiring. First of all, it’s a big team! And there’s a lot going on, not only programming and machining the robot, but also groups dedicated to creating specialized apps for scouting during matches, as well as groups focused on business and team spirit. I was also amazed at the level of parent and mentor support for the team. Parents and mentors play an important role, whether it’s organizing team dinners or helping students tackle new concepts in engineering. They provide support that allows the students to learn more about robotics in ways that undoubtedly will benefit them going forward into their careers.

Although the focus of this video about Team 4488 is the experiences of a few young women on the team, I found that everyone is treated equally as a member of Shockwave. There’s no special treatment for the girls, or even any extra attention for them. Everyone is treated fairly regardless of their age, gender, or experience level. I think Shockwave is the model the tech industry should follow. We don’t have to single out girls, but simply give them the same opportunities as everyone else.

I will continue to profile Team 4488's experiences throughout the 2015 competition season. Ultimately I'm aiming to produce several videos highlighting the positive aspects of participation in robotics and I hope everyone who watches them will be inspired to pursue careers in the tech industry as a result.

It truly is amazing that FIRST provides such an amazing opportunity for girls. Thank you to all the other teams that also make this possible.

And a thank you to Rachel for everything she's done in helping us make it loud! If you'd like to see more of her work, check out her website: http://www.superbrackerproductions.com/