Notre Dame Robots Team

Through a partnership with Northrop Grumman, I develop my own projects with mentorship from a team of engineers. During my junior year, I utilized Java Eclipse and Android to develop and copyright a mobile application that digitized my high school’s school map, making navigation much easier for students. Due to my spectacular performance, Northrop Grumman offered me a paid summer internship. In collaboration with a team of my peers and the public works superintendent of the Fairfield Waterworks facility, I built a robot capable of diagnosing cracks and leaks in water main pipes. Over the summer, I also attended an eight-hour workshop about soldering electronics. This project garnered several awards at the Ohio State Technology and Engineering Showcase. Now, I am currently developing a low-cost Arduino-powered smartphone with WiFi capabilities.

“Writing it down is important to us…recording what we’ve done, in words, on paper, it’s got to be our way of telling ourselves that we mean something, that we matter. That the things we’ve done have made a difference.”

I have learned the importance of all members working together to not just gain experience but to take our passions to be a successful team. I want to do the unthinkable and combine my two passions, technology and agriculture to provide a common ground. My plans are to utilize technology to enhance the FFA program through applications, graphic designs, and video production. I want to be an Area Officer to reach out and be a servant leader to not only Area VIII but to tell others the message of the FFA and develop practical and exciting solutions in agriculture through technology. I have already utilized my technology skills in my local chapter by keeping our TV online which tells the members important dates and information. I believe, team work, communication, and positive encouragement are the three components in order to have a successful project. My passion for technology has played a key role and has complimented my efforts in all that I strive for in the FFA. Every competition I have competed in may not have won every time, but I’ve never been defeated in my passion because I was guided by wonderful encouragers of the FFA to never give

While participating in the robotics competitions, I discovered my passion for robotics. Even after the initial team separated, I continued helping new members, based on my previous experience and new-found knowledge. In the future, I want to continue the legacy my grandmother and mother have given me and continue to strive for excellence, helping my country and the rest of the world by the hand of technology and

The point of keeping a notebook has never been, nor is it now to have an accurate factual record of what I have been doing or thinking. Author, Joan Didion, in her essay, “On Keeping a Notebook” explains how to keep a notebook and why. Didion’s purpose is to inform us on how she keeps a notebook and why notebooks are useful in helping us to remember events that happened in the past. She adopts a sentimental tone in order to emphasize how many memories are kept alive by keeping a notebook. Didion uses ethos, pathos, and different rhetorical devices in her essay to explain her point.

Our school limits DECA to one meeting per month, so we have to do our best to communicate everything we can in about forty minutes. As far as competitions go, each member is expected to participate in either an individual or team event. The categories for competitions range from marketing management to sports and entertainment business operations to entrepreneurship innovation plan. In March, DECA members in Arkansas come together to put their business skills to the test through state and national competitions. In order to compete at the national level, one must place in the top three in their division.”

In BEST robotics, each year the team and I receive a new challenge to complete using only the materials given and in a short period of time, 6 weeks. In this time we brainstorm, analyze, design, build, test, and document our production. We follow the DMADV engineering process which contains the following steps, define, measure, analyze, design, and verify. While using the engineering process is important, the most crucial part of the group is our teamwork. In our club we use a holacracy management system; this allows members of our team to take charge in what he or she is best at and distributes authority so no one person has all the power. Furthermore, as a team we conduct team-building activities like swedish twister, the human knot, or various board games. These activities are a must for the team to function at its greatest capacity. I hope that I will be able to apply the engineering, teamwork and leadership abilities through the NSA to serve and protect my

Imagine a VEX Robotics Competition and I, as a middle schooler, finding my passion. Robotics quickly took over my life as I worked hard to carry my team to the VEX World Championships not once, but three times. I earned awards left and right. I often earned awards for the performance of our robot, design, and presenting maturely to the judges. I was passionate and talented. I had set my eyes on being an engineer and doing what I loved as I grew up.

During my sophomore and junior year, I joined the FTC Robotics Team. I was one of the programmers and builders for the robot. I will help the team build the robot and after the robot is done, a group of students and I would program the robot to do some specific tasks. After we are done building and have programed the robot we compete against other schools. During competition, we would meet with other teams and form allies. We operate robots to compete in a challenge with the teams we are allied with.

The team members of S.A.W. all come from different backgrounds, yet they all have a profound interest in very similar things. Dahmin Branch is an eleventh grader who’s involved in sports programs, such as basketball, while also being involved in academic programs, such as the National Honor Society. However, through all of this, he has developed a profound interest in fixing computers and designing video games. This has encouraged him to be a computer engineer and a video game designer five years ago and he is still committed to accomplishing that goal today. Marquise Harris is an eleventh grader who simply loved to tinker with broken technology and play with it when he was a young child. He considers fixing things fun and interesting. When he fixed his old computer, he felt like his fate was sealed.

As the Researcher, my job was to research for my team. I was assigned to gather two websites , one article, and one biography or autobiography. Over the week I also helped other people in my group. For example, I helped Angelica calculate the amount of people Edel Quinn help throughout her life. I also looked for three direct quotes, and three indirect quotes. At the end of all of this, I learned so much about Edel Quinn and what she did to help others. As the leader, Maria asked us to do specific job. She also helped each of us, specifically as the leader . Even though she was not able to come one day, she still went out of her way to reach out to us and direct us. As the writer, Angelica did most of the writing in this S.T.R.E.A.M

I am responsible for assisting with creating and/or editing the sponsor documents, including sponsorship levels packet and sponsor emails. Other tasks for the semester involve reaching out to Research Park on campus and seeing if anyone is interested in funding the team as well as finding a potential food sponsor to help motivate members to attend Monday meetings (hopefully Papa Johns!). As always, we are extending our sights to part sponsors, especially with the Eddy Current Dyno. The MechSE department just recently released an email explaining the requirements to achieve funding--which involves creating a promotional video--so I might be part of that if the team decides to participate.

On my visit to the Dunwoody campus, I could not wait to look around. I've been attending the Math and Science Academy for seven years. Even before my sixth grade year, I have always enjoyed constructing things, playing with building blocks, and making little robots. On the night of my sixth grade orientation, I visited my school to be and was surprised when I walked in the front door. I was greeted by an eight foot tall robot made by high school students. They were part of the program called For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST). I

Leading this team was an incredible opportunity that has shaped my entire approach to fostering community collaboration. I continue to co-chair the advisory board of this grant, and since I have supported additional grant advisory boards, coalition meetings, and integrated resource teams to serve our local community and ensure that we are investing our dollars and time to right areas. The most important lesson I have learned when leading a team and building partnerships, is that the focus must be on collaboration not coordination.

Throughout my high school life, my extracurricular involvement has helped me develop a variety of skills. Primarily, I have been a part of the Leadership and Peer Support group as a project manager of a conference; I exercised my leadership and collaborative skills. As an engineer, there are times where an individual with leadership and cooperative skills must rise and become the leader in different projects. Interpersonal skills play a significant role in an engineer’s life because they will always be required to communicate with new people. Earlier this year, a peer and I decided to start a Student Mentorship Program and as a co-founder of this group, I learned how to problem solve, make decisions, think laterally, and work as a team. As a student, my skills will allow me to accept challenges with confidence and contribute to discussions during lectures with new ideas. Teamwork, leadership, interpersonal and hands-on skills are key abilities engineers must contain in order to be successful.