Northwest labor press., March 07, 2008, Page 12, Image 12

Union helps students train for robotics competition
Plumbers and Fitters
Local 290 opens part of
its training center so that
high school students can
test their robots in
scrimmages
The 2008 Oregon Regional FIRST Robotics
Competition wrapped up last weekend at
Memorial Coliseum. And for the first time ...
ever ... organized labor was involved.
FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of
Science and Technology) is a national non-
profit organization that each year conducts a na-
tional robotics contest for high school students.
The organization was founded by Dean Kaman
(the man who invented the Segway transporter).
This year, 55 teams from a half-dozen West-
ern states and Canada competed at Memorial
Coliseum — one of 41 regional events held na-
tionwide.
From its inception seven years ago, large
corporations such as Xerox, Hewlett Packard
and Mentor Graphics have participated as spon-
sors and mentors. This year, Plumbers and Fit-
ters Local 290 and IBEW Local 280 of Tangent
got involved — Local 290 as a regional sponsor
(ABOVE) Students from nearly a dozen area high schools converged on the Plumbers and Fitters Training Center in Tualatin Feb. 16 to scrimmage
and Local 280 as a co-sponsor for teams from
robots in preparation for the Oregon Regional FIRST Robotics Competition held Feb. 29-March 1 at Portland’s Memorial Coliseum. (BELOW)
Corvallis.
A team from the Beaverton Education Foundation cheers on a competitor at the Oregon Regional.
Debra Mumm-Hill, regional director for
FIRST Pacific Northwest, said Local 290 is the first union in the nation to be in-
volved in the competition as a sponsor.
At the contest kick-off Jan. 5, Local 290 made arrangements to accommo-
date more than 400 students and parents at their training center in Tualatin, feed-
ing them breakfast and hooking up a satellite feed with NASA so that the stu-
dents could learn what their project would be. NASA is a major sponsor of the
competition. Then on Feb. 16, the union hosted a scrimmage at the training
center. This allowed any team that wanted to come and test their robots on a
replica track set up by Local 290 Business Agent Jerry Moss.
“We’ve never had scrimmages before, because we’ve never had a facility
that could do it,” said David Porter, a mechanical engineer and Volunteer Coor-
dinator for Oregon. “This is excellent.”
Both Mumm-Hill and Porter believe it is critical to link educators, industry
and labor together to work with students. “When FIRST started, the assumption
was that the kids competing would all go to MIT,” Porter said. “That has
evolved.”
Mumm-Hill said that for every engineer “you need a team of seven to 10
skilled workers – machinists, plumbers, electricians – who can do the work. It’s
a real team effort.” She said Local 290 “has gone out of its way to help us” and
that Moss has opened a lot of doors for the organization.
“We look forward to our partnership with the labor unions as we continue to
reach more and more high school students in Oregon,” she said.
Here’s how the competition works: Teams (which can range from four stu-
dents to more than 30) are presented with a kit of parts made up of motors, bat-
teries, a control system and a mix of automation components – but no instruc-
tions. Working with mentors, students are given six weeks to design, build and
test their robots to meet the year’s challenge designed by a committee of engi-
neers and other professionals.
In this year’s game, robots are designed to race around a track knocking
down 40-inch inflated Trackballs and moving them around the track, passing
them either over or under a 6’6” overpass.
Moss has since joined the board of directors for FIRST Northwest (as has
as sponsors, mentors and volunteers. “This
Labor Commissioner Dan Gardner) and is now in training to become a contest
This season, more than 1,500 teams — including
is a great way to build student interest in
judge. For his efforts, he was awarded the group’s “Volunteer of the Year” at
a record 316 rookie teams – will participate
math, science, and technology. You have to
the regional finals March 1.
remember, these kids are the workforce of
“We’ve been trying for a long time to let schools in our area know that we
nationwide. Top finishers at the 41 regional
the future,” he said.
exist,” Moss said. “What’s neat is that this has actually opened doors for us.
competitions advance to the national
For more information, call Mumm-Hill at
I’ve had a lot of positive feedback from teachers and parents.”
503-657-0774 or Porter at 971-678-1189.
Moss would like to see more unions and signatory contractors get involved
championship in Atlanta April 1 –19.
PAGE 12
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
MARCH 7, 2008