Newsletter for Meeting of Tuesday, June 17, 2014
THE ROBOTICS CLUB OF NEEDHAM HIGH SCHOOL WAS THE BIG NEWS OF THE DAY!
Erica Bond welcomed the Robotics Club members and faculty sponsors, Hans Batra (math and CS) and Dan Smalley (physics), to our meeting! Hans Batra gave an overview of robotics program at Needham High School and announced that he will be leading a group in establishing a program to teach and encourage innovation. The school has set aside a classroom for this purpose and the program will be called the "Da Vinci Workshop for Interdisciplinary Innovation." Hans is pursuing grants from area businesses, Olin College and the Needham Educational Association for equipment and other assistance.
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The members of the girl's robotics team, "The Hackers" and the members of the boy's team, "T-10" gave a summary of the year's efforts and competitions attended. They qualified for State Competition and T-10 won 8th place, T-10 received the Rockwell Collins Innovate Award, and the Hackers won the "Connect Award" and the "Promote Award."
The high point of the meeting was the demonstration of the two robots that each team designed, built and controlled in the various competitions for the year. Each robot can cost up to $2,000! Sponsors such as Olin College, Needham Education Foundation, Computer Loft, Home Depot, Veryst Engineeringf, Bose and Needham Rotary support the robotics program. We appreciate the team members coming to lunch and showing off their skills!
The Hackers were feeling very generous and offered Jim Brown a shot at running their robot. He promptly crashed the unit, requiring a tow and some time in the repair shop! It's not easy to move these big machines around!
We are very proud to be associated with this highly motivated and talented students and their faculty mentors!
DON'T MISS THIS WEEK'S PROGRAM
This week we will be hearing from Harvey Leonard, Channel 5 (abc) meteorologist, winner of several awards for broadcast excellence. He is a fellow of the American Meteorologist Society and perhaps most famous in weather circles for having correctly predicted the ferocity of the great 1978 Boston Blizzard. He often helps in non-profit fundraising, most notably for the Huntington's Disease Society of America. He is a graduate of City College of New York and has a Master of Science degree in meteorology from New York University. He lives in Natick and enjoys hiking.