Organization of the Week: FIRSTers

[Billfred]

Printed in this past Thursday's edition of The Daily Gamecock, the student newspaper of the University of South Carolina:

For Stephen Kowski, an electrical engineering grad student, working with FIRST has come full circle.

FIRST, or For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, is an organization created to "inspire young people to be science and technology leaders, by engaging them in exciting mentor-based programs that build science, engineering and technology skills, that inspire innovation, and that foster well-rounded life capabilities including self-confidence, communication and leadership."

In order to engage high school students in learning about science and technology, FIRST has created national competitions where high schoolers build robots under the mentorship of college kids.

"I was originally one of the high schoolers," said Kowski.

Kowski began working with the program his freshman year in high school and later became a mentor in college, helping to establish the Gamecock FIRST branch upon entering graduate School at USC.

"I went to a meeting in high school with some friends," said Kowski. "Then I found out that I could have up to six days of excused absences and I was in."

Each year, every team is given a game to play by FIRST Robotics and a basic supplies kit. The kit includes different things each year - such as motors, wheels and a control - to ensure that the teams are all on a level playing field. Beyond that, each team gets creative and tries to build the best robot possible.

"Basically, we build robots," said Kowski. "We help educate high schoolers and get people excited about engineering by way of building robots."

While the team begins meeting early in fall semester for basic planning and logistics, the real work begins in January. The robot is built over a six-week period.

Kowski said the college students and the high schoolers often work every day, even weekends, during the intense six weeks.

"We're not given enough money, information or time," said Kowski. "And it has to be done yesterday."

The goal is to let the high school students do as much work as possible. The college students act as mentors and do some of the heavier work, such as using the high-powered machinery, but for the most part, the high schoolers take the lead.

"I like working with the kids," said Joseph Williams, a fourth year chemical engineering student who was involved with FIRST in high school. "It's great to see how they learn things related to electrical systems, mechanics and programming."

"First we break down the rules and establish the possibilities," said Kowski. "Then we make small prototypes quickly and test out different ideas."

Through computer-aided drafting and the use of 3-D models, the team plans everything out before making any cuts. After the first model is created, the testing begins.

"The sooner it breaks, the happier I am," said Kowski. The sooner this happens, the more time the team has to make it better, asking questions like "How can we improve it? How can we change it?"

Then the team heads to competition, everyone's favorite part. The competitions are held across the U.S. and those are the true tests. Last year, the team had a great season, with the following accomplishments: 2009 Bayou Regional Rookie Inspiration Award, 2009 Bayou Regional Semi-Finalist, 2009 Palmetto Regional Regional Finalist and 2009 Palmetto Regional Rookie All Star Award.

This organization isn't just for engineering majors, though, or people with a knack for all things technical.

"We need anybody and everybody," said Kowski.

He rattled off needed positions in everything from marketing to Web site/logo design to organizational skills.

Melanie Griffin, a third year print journalism student, is on the less-technical end of things, but still really enjoys working with the club. She works to organize logistics, especially for travel to competition, and she takes lots of pictures.

"There are a lot of behind the scenes little jobs that you don't realize up front," said Griffin. "I like figuring out all the little stuff that can get done so the technical people can do what they're best at."

Kowski adds that this is an out-of-the-box way to gain hands-on, real-world experience.

"You might just learn something," said Kowski. "You might take away something that you didn't think you would."

The next meeting for the Gamecock FIRST'ers will be held on Tuesday, Sept. 29th, at 300 Main Room B103 from 6 - 7 p.m. Check out their Facebook page, FIRST Team 2815: Los Pollos Locos or e-mail Donn Griffith at Donn@cec.sc.edu for more information.