Invista hosts program for bridges, remote-controlled robots

July 16, 2004
ASHLI HERMES
Victoria Advocate

Some local teenagers have spent their summer building bridges and robots and they will show off their creations to friends and family today.

Thirty-five students enrolled in the Golden Crescent Alliance for Minorities in Engineering began a five-week summer workshop on June 14 to learn more about engineering and its processes.

Junior students in grades eight and nine have worked to perfect miniature bridges made of basswood and senior students in grades from 10 to 12 have constructed robots that are remote controlled. The teens' work will be on view for their friends and families today at the group's Summer Enrichment Program Exposition 2004 at Invista.

The program is designed to give students in grades from 7-12, who are members of targeted minority groups that are under-represented in the field of engineering, enriched curricular and extracurricular activities to encourage them to pursue careers in engineering. Students are chosen for the program by their academic performances and teacher recommendations.

During the five-week summer enrichment program, students practiced taking the SAT test and studied algebra, geometry, trigonometry and calculus, as well as other engineering concepts.

"This year they had an enriched math curriculum," said Juan M. Gonzalez, program coordinator and assistant principal for Howell Middle School. "It's oriented towards engineering and problem solving."

The students also took a field trip to HP Compaq in Spring where Donna Tijerina, a software development engineer for HP Compaq and former GCAME member, offered presentations and tours of labs so students could see what goes on behind the scenes in computer production, said Gonzalez. The students learned about the entire computer-making process, from market research to research and development to actually manufacturing and testing the machines.

The big projects though, have been using engineering skills to create bridges and robots. Junior students used computer software and basswood to construct bridges that have to hold much more than they weigh.

"They were given 12 sticks of two-feet-long, one-eighth-inch-thick basswood to design a bridge that had to be from 10-11 inches long, no taller than four inches, no wider than three inches that must hold a minimum of 50 pounds," said Gonzalez.

They began by writing and conceptualizing plans for their bridges and then using a computer program that told them how much weight their bridges could hold and where they would break once their capacities were surpassed. Then they used basswood and super glue to create their masterpieces.

Calvin Singleton, 14, will be a freshman at Memorial High School in the fall and has been involved with the group for two years. He hopes to pursue bio-medical engineering and find cures for diseases, and do autopsies or computer engineering, or maybe even both, he said. Calvin has high expectations for his bridge.

"I used Xs on my trusses because the Xs are more sufficient, in my opinion," he said. "Some people used diamonds."

He also used arches in his design.

"I think that would avoid too much tension and compression to the bridge so the bridge wouldn't fail," he said.

He said the computer predicted that his bridge could hold 180 pounds, but he thinks it may be able to hold up to 200. The bridge itself weighs only 33.25 grams.

The senior students broke into three groups to build robots. To add to the fun, the students were told a fictional story about the United States needing to send robots to another planet to gather "X-Fuel" cells that are shaped like eggs in order to avoid global war since all fossil fuel resources on Earth had been depleted.

The robots have drive, steering, electrical and object retrieval sub-systems. The students will have to direct their robots up a ramp, across a spinning wheel and down another ramp where the robots will gather raw eggs without cracking them and then turn around and travel back to their starting points. Gonzalez said the groups will receive points for each of the steps.

"It's all done by remote control," he added. "There can be no touch. The robot has to work independently."

Gonzalez said that teamwork was the most important aspect of the project.

"They need to learn to work in their subgroups and trust that their team members are doing their jobs," he said. "Group dynamics is really important."

Ashleigh Williams, 15, is a sophomore at Calhoun High School and has been in the program for three years. She said there's a possibility that she may pursue a career in engineering, but she's also interested in architecture and industrial design.

"There's a possibility, but there's a possibility for anything right now," she said.

Ashleigh and her team members designed their robot with a basket underneath to contain the eggs and an arm on top to gather them.

"We've tested it and there's still some troubles right now, but it will be ready Friday," she said Wednesday afternoon. "We're going to put in little dividers of a Styrofoam-like material so when the egg goes down, it will stay down and there will be a little cushion so if they hit each other, they won't crack."

Ashleigh said that she believes that the program helps give her a leg-up in a field where women are under-represented.

"I like the program," she said. "It gives us the chance to learn things and an edge up on the competition. This gives minorities in engineering an opportunity to get caught up and get ahead."

GCAME is a partnership among Victoria Independent School District and Dupont, Invista, Dow, Alcoa, BP and Equistar.