Chairman's Award Team 525 Print Close 2016 Team 525 Team Number 525 Team Name, Corporate/University Sponsors John Deere/PTC/Rockwell Collins/Denso International America, Inc./Iowa State University College of Engineering/DISTek Integration, Inc/Hawkeye Tool and Die & Cedar Falls High School Briefly describe the impact of the FIRST program on team participants with special emphasis on the 2015/2016 year and the preceding two to five years Gain confidence and improve communication skills by giving presentations (17 in this year alone) throughout the community, from businesses to schools Heighten interest in STEM fields, gaining important and rewarding skills in an ever changing work force Receiving internships and jobs at NASA, John Deere, Apple 100% of students go to college with 75% going into STEM fields Alumni give back to FIRST by volunteering at events for all 4 programs Family comes back and supports events after graduating Describe the impact of the FIRST program on your community with special emphasis on the 2015/2016 year and the preceding two to five years Inspired UNI STEM Coordinator to create "Robotics Week" in conjunction with Iowa Regional Ran FLL Regional Qualifier for 8 years increased awareness of FIRST and grew number of teams Presentations at local John Deere facilities promoting volunteerism in all FIRST programs Interest in FIRST created a demand for school STEM classes now offers 5 PLTW courses Presented to Cedar Valley Commerce Alliance with 150 business representatives Running Iowa Regional with support from 12 businesses (7 local) Team's innovative or creative method to spread the FIRST message Design a team poster each year, put in local businesses alongside typical athletics posters Created Rubik's Cube mosaics of Dean Kamen, Woodie Flowers, and 2 mentors Built a float featuring 2 robots for our local parade Held fundraiser called Bots for Tots where high school students drove our robot Partnered with another FIRST team in our school district to build a STEM foundation for younger students by decorating a car and allowing them to drive Vex robots in our school's Trunk or Treat event Describe examples of how your team members act as role models and inspire other FIRST team members to emulate "Grandma Rule" exemplifies the character and respect in our team Give standing ovations for all awards and recognitions Donated gift cards to a team whose trailer was stolen, other teams followed suit (featured in 2012 kickoff video) Event managers placed Chinese pits next to ours at Minneapolis 10,000 Lakes Regional knowing we would help Set leadership example, speaking in front of 3000 people at Iowa State FLL Championship Interact with students at FLL Championship, explaining impact of FIRST Describe the team's initiatives to help start or form other FRC teams Started Dike New Hartford team: Went through registration, set up interview for grant Started Waterloo team: Gave grant information, presented to interested students and mentors Invited 8 schools w/o FRC teams to Iowa Regional Went to China the last 3 years to support FRC growth from 1 team in 2013 to 36 in 2016, partnered with Team 987 to run China Robotics Challenge Applied for/received Scale Up from the Iowa Governor's STEM Advisory Council provides $8000 to all new teams in Iowa for 2017 Describe the team's initiatives to help start or form other FIRST teams (including Jr.FLL, FLL, & FTC) 2 of our mentors served on the Cedar Valley FIRST Committee whose purpose was to start teams in all 4 programs turned into the planning committee for Iowa Regional Started 1 FTC team at our high school, blossomed to 4 teams with 60 total students Started 3 FTC teams in Waterloo Describe the team's initiatives on assisting other FIRST teams (including Jr.FLL, FLL, FTC, & FRC) with progressing through the FIRST program Demonstrated at the FTC state Championship where all 4 programs were all represented Iowa Regional has all 4 programs represented 98% of team volunteers to run FLL Regional Qualifier in Cedar Falls all programs are
represented 16 students mentored FIRST teams in the past 5 years bringing awareness of the opportunities of the next steps to younger students In 2014 we traveled to Minnesota for the "Minne Mini" presentation on the new RoboRio control system Describe how your team works with other FIRST teams to serve as mentors to younger or less experienced FIRST teams (includes Jr.FLL, FLL, FTC, & FRC teams) Mentor has traveled the Midwest assisting 4 teams with programming 2 mentors drove to Texas to help Chinese teams with mechanical and programming Members of our team mentored 5 local FTC teams Hosted official kickoff, working 4 Rookie teams through a "quick build" Workshops with 2 Chinese teams before regional to organize and prepare Continued partnership with all Rookie teams in area through build season Started a Facebook Group to answer questions the Iowa and Nebraska teams have about FIRST Describe your Corporate/University Sponsors John Deere: financial/mentoring support, outreach events, John Deere Inspire PTC: financial support, software, use our CAD models on their website/banners Rockwell Collins, DISTek Integration, Viking Pump, DENSO, Scheels: financial support Iowa State University College of Engineering: financial support, joint FIRST LEGO League events Hawkeye Tool and Die: machining Cedar Falls Schools: provide build space, financial support, mentor support, travel insurance, school board members volunteer Describe the strength of your partnership with your sponsors with special emphasis on the 2015/2016 year and the preceding two to five years In communication with all 9 sponsors to ensure full engagement Consistent contact throughout the year through newsletters John Deere is our main sponsor and has been with us since the beginning Our team was "instrumental in the decision to partner with FIRST" Pat Barnes, Program Director of Global STEM for John Deere 7 Mentors are employed with our sponsors, fortifying the connection UNI is working closely with us to organize and host the Iowa Regional Describe how your team would explain what FIRST is to someone who has never heard of it FIRST is an organization that promotes engineering through a competitive atmosphere, and strives to recognize scientists as much as athletes. Students have the opportunity to work under the guidance of STEM professionals to construct a robot of their own design. Students and mentors exude respect and kindness, having as much fun building as they do bonding. FIRST teams ensure that their peers are always competing to their highest ability, always willing to lend a hand. Briefly describe other matters of interest to the FIRST judges, if any 39% racial minority; 34% female Had female on drive team 10 of last 12 years Organized session led by Society of Women Engineers On national TV in China and United States in same summer Develop and share ios scouting app For last 8 years varsity letters can be earned shared criteria with FIRST Published in Behind the Design, given to all FRC teams in kit of parts Team name serves 2 purposes: an homage to our head mentor, Mr. Swartley, and an acronym: Students Working Around Robotics Technology Team Captain/Student Representative that has double checked this submission. Kayla Neese Essay What happens when you bring 57 awesome teams from 8 states and 2 countries, traveling a total of 39,873 miles, to Cedar Falls, Iowa? The inaugural Iowa FIRST Robotics Competition Regional. For the past 17 years, the passion Team 525 holds for spreading science and technology has taken us far and wide, globetrotting and life changing. This year for the first time, our hard work has brought us home, our journey 2 miles away, the furthest we've ever come. Student founded and student led, Team 332 started in 1999 with 12 students in Mr. Swartley's physics class and a challenge. Mr. Swartley showed a competition video as a real world physics example. When his students approached him about starting their own team, he said he'd be willing to coach the team if they could find funding and mentors. In 2000, lack of funding ruled out competing, yet we came back in 2001 with our current team number and even more enthusiasm. This year, our full house includes 33 eager students, and 11 enthusiastic mentors. Mentors guide us, yet they put us in charge. Students have said that in addition to technical skills, they gain confidence and public speaking skills. There's a palpable sense of community felt in our build site; we're made strong not by rigid skills, but shared spirit, felt in every tightened screw, line of code, and pair of orange shorts. One of the hallmarks of our team and its success is the commitment of our mentors. From the parent who fell in love
with FIRST to the engineer looking for a hobby, our mentors have come together to create an environment of nurtured intellectualism and warmth. They have earned many awards recognizing their efforts and impacts, including 4 Woodie Flowers Finalist Awards. From deeply rooted traditions to new experiences, we engage through a multitude of outreach events. Our team has a consistent presence, both STEM and non STEM related. Examples include fundraisers at our school, like "Bots for Tots," where students drove a robot to win prizes in exchange for a donation to Toys for Tots. We've traveled to the Iowa State Fair to raise awareness about STEM. We demonstrate at the school's STEM open house and the Cedar Valley STEM Festival. Since 2007 we've given a demonstration at Sturgis Falls, a community celebration. We give presentations to various local businesses, including sponsors, to update them on our build season and increase awareness of FIRST programs. 4 presentations this past year were to our longest standing partner, John Deere, to recruit volunteers for FIRST teams and events. Another opportunity came when Doerfer Engineering invited our students to visit, learn about the transporters they build for NASA and serve as guides during their joint open house with NASA guests. As interest in our team has grown, so has interest in STEM opportunities in our school. A single engineering course added 7 years ago has grown to a full curriculum, providing sustainable and dynamic classes, allowing team members and other students to connect deeply with STEM. Our dedication to a STEM friendly school puts us in activity fairs, always willing to speak to the benefits of strong science and technology programs. The school understands our commitment to the cause; the Chair of the Iowa Regional Planning Committee described our School Board members' dedication, saying, "they get it and are all in," volunteering at events and spreading the word. Our team founder recently decided to switch his career from physics teacher to Community Partner/STEM Facilitator to further promote STEM in all of our schools and grow connections with community businesses and groups. For the past 8 years we've run a FIRST Lego League Regional Qualifier and added a FIRST Lego League Jr. Expo 4 years ago. This event has grown from 21 teams to 50 teams; this year's registration filled up in 2 minutes! All students and many alumni come back to volunteer at this event, continuing the cycle of FIRST inspiration. We also built match tables and trained referees for the new Denver, IA Regional Qualifier. Our strong partnership with Iowa State University College of Engineering provides us with opportunities to show thousands what FIRST offers for high school students. In an effort to promote FIRST closer to home, we started an FRC team at both the Dike New Hartford and Waterloo high schools, holding a meeting at their schools about what it takes to have their own team. We were asked to talk to students and mentors in the Dike New Hartford district to help them fill out grants and register their team. Contact with both of these teams has continued throughout the season. For the last two years we've hosted an official season kickoff inviting these teams, all other Iowa teams, and this year the team from Nebraska. Effective January 2016, a new initiative will change the face of FRC in Iowa. An application submitted by mentor Kenton Swartley has been selected as one of 11 STEM programs to receive Iowa Scale Up funding. The Scale Up initiative is a state funded program allocating more than $3.1 million per year for increasing involvement in STEM programs. This award will provide $8000 to EACH new FRC team to help with registration fees and mentor training. Swartdogs will help organize these training sessions. Essay page 2 Our long standing partnership with John Deere led to the formation of John Deere Inspire, a global initiative to create the next generation of innovators. The program provides mentors and funding to over 400 teams across all FIRST programs. Pat Barnes, Program Director of Global STEM for John Deere, said our team was "instrumental in the decision to partner with FIRST." Numerous meetings and presentations have built a beautiful relationship between 525 and John Deere, spurring mentors, funding, and inspiration for us, and a new generation of minds for them. Due to Inspire, John Deere is in the top 5 sponsors for 3 FIRST programs worldwide. Our involvement in the growing Chinese FRC program began with a chance encounter at the 2012 FIRST Championships. A mentor from our team met Mr. Yue, a businessman from China, who was very excited about starting new teams there. As he explains this serendipitous meeting: "On the third day, I met an important person who would be instrumental in the developing CRC. CRC began its legendary life at that moment. This is how we were able to get FIRST Team 525 to come to China on Christmas Day in 2013 to help mentors do some technical training." At the 2013 Championships, he returned with a camera crew to record interviews with our team members that were shown to over 70 schools in China. The video prompted an increase in teams there, growing from 1 to 36 teams in 3 years. To assist the new teams, 4 mentors traveled to Shenzhen in December 2013 for a workshop teaching mentors and students about mechanical design, programming, and team management. Interest piqued with the unveiling of the "suitcase bot" our team built for the trip.
We provided continual support during the 2014 season through early morning video conference calls helping evening build sessions. Two of our mentors traveled 2000 miles to help Chinese teams at the Hub City Regional. When Team 4830 participated in the Queen City regional, they traveled to Cedar Falls to visit our school before sharing a 10 hour bus ride to Cincinnati. The summer of 2014, we partnered with the Chinese Urban Youth Robotics Alliance to run the first ever China Robotics Challenge, a scrimmage for new Chinese teams. Our students, alumni, and mentors trained volunteers and kept the scrimmage running smoothly. Our team arranged student led workshops about the new control system, manipulators, and team organization. 2015 saw continued communication with Chinese teams. After build season ended, 2 teams visited our build site and school before their regional. We traveled back to China last summer to participate in and help run the 2nd China Robotics Challenge. Before the event, we helped rookie teams finish their robots in preparation for the scrimmage. During the awards ceremony, Mr. Yue gave a speech explaining his realization that he had to bring this program to China because of its impact on a teenager's life. His hope was that Chinese FRC teams would emulate our team in embodying Gracious Professionalism. From urban China to college town Iowa, the odyssey of Team 525 comes full circle with bringing FIRST home. Since 2010 we've hosted a scrimmage the weekend before bag and tag day, inviting all Iowa teams to participate. This scrimmage gives teams a chance to practice on a full size field with mock inspections and software checkups, but it's nothing like a regional of our own. We've always dreamed of a regional in Iowa, and now it's a reality. Working in partnership with the president of the University of Northern Iowa, rumors of a massive robotics competition in our very own town turned into a full grown project. A regional planning committee was formed in 2014 and our team has stayed closely involved in this process. Currently, 6 of the planning committee members having Swartdog ties, working to ensure this regional is an event our team will forever be proud of. 3 countries, 8 states, and 57 teams will march into Cedar Falls, a sight to be seen and revered. Their arrival shows how a single goal can morph into, dare we type it, a robotics revolution. On March 24, 33 Swartdogs will go a few miles from their homes, into a magnificent arena echoing with cries and chants of STEM love. These few miles will mark decades of hard work and dedication for the single goal of spreading science and technology. The legacy we leave here will be our biggest, not for a win or loss, but rather a community forever engaged and intertwined with this goal. We've come home. This is the difference we make, these are the steps we've taken, these are the lives we've touched, these are the stories we've spun, this is coming home. 2016 Team 525 Picture 1
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