Rowan University's Engineering Seminars
A Student Section's Focus on FIRST
 
As the ASME student section from Rowan University, Glassboro, N.J., has ably demonstrated, there is more than one way to support a high school FIRST robotic competition team, while at the same time fostering the high schoolers’ interest in engineering.

Bayshore N.Y. high school student Will WIlson tests his leakproof pocket protector constructed during a design challenge held as part of a Rowan University FIRST seminar.

The fledgling Rowan section— chartered in April of 1998 from a mechanical engineering department then in its second year—has stepped up to the plate with its first large-scale event, a series of engineering seminars aimed at introducing basic design principles to high school students who are preparing for the 2001 FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) competition.

FIRST, which promotes engineering among high school students by challenging them to build and enter robots in a unique sporting-event-style contest, has grown exponentially since its inception in 1992. This year, some 500 teams (high school students teamed with college students and professional engineers) have been participating in regional competitions throughout the country. The winners of the regional competitions will move on to the national event to be held at Epcot Center, Orlando, Fla., next month.

While universities often contribute to the FIRST competition, they usually work jointly with a single high school team to design and build a robot. (See the September 2000 issue of The ASME Mechanical Advantage.) What makes the Rowan University students’ efforts novel is their offer of support to multiple teams by holding seminars open to any high school group interested in participating in the FIRST competition that is willing to travel to Rowan’s campus, 20 miles east of Philadelphia.

“We had been contacted by several area high schools with regards to helping them out with the FIRST competition,” said mechanical engineering senior and former ASME student section chairman, Mark Seidman. “Rather than picking one school and devoting all our efforts to that, we thought it would be a good opportunity to help everyone out at the same time by having an overall seminar addressing engineering issues that they would be facing in the design of their robot.”

The result was six workshops led by Rowan students and faculty, covering topics such as the design process and problem-solving skills, linkages, pneumatics, motors, and electrical controls. Upwards of 25 high school students representing six area schools attended the workshops, which were spread over three Saturdays.

“This is the first time our section has tried doing something outside of Rowan, and it is probably the best thing we’ve ever done,” said Amip Shah, ME junior and current section chairman. “It was a perfect experience.”

Pocket Protectors
When designing the seminars, Rowan students modeled the personalized and interactive approach to education which they themselves experience as members of a small department, which graduates some 30 ME students each year.

Mike Resciniti, a Rowan University ME junior peers down a pneumatic tube during a seminar designed to introduce high school students to basic design principles.

The introductory seminar began with a dual-purpose design exercise. Challenging groups to construct a pocket protector with on-hand materials served as an icebreaker as well as a segue into a discussion of the design process. Coincidentally, Shah’s pen leaked ink on his pocket, providing comic relief and setting the tone for a fun and informative session.

Finding Courage
By the end of the third Saturday session, said Shah, everyone was comfortable and having fun. “We asked all the participants to fill out a feedback form, and the comments we got back were terrific,” he said. “Definitely, the experience was valuable for everybody,” including the 20 students who helped create and conduct the seminars. The work offered the organizers their fair share of challenges: creating a program from scratch, securing a $1,500 grant from the local Philadelphia ASME chapter, compiling an invitation packet, publicizing the seminars, and, finally, finding the courage to present concepts that in some cases, said Shah “we learned just last year and weren’t sure of ourselves,” to a room full of strangers.

Additionally, said Shah, having to answer technical questions helped solidify engineering concepts in his own mind.

Although this was the first year of seminars, Rowan received a strong response to their offering. In the weeks leading up to the seminars they received inquiries from 13 schools, including a team from Detroit, Mich., and a first-time team from Brazil that wanted to know if they should fly up for the workshops. Judging from the number of inquiries, Shah sees the need for more programs like this around the country. “I think if other schools and institutions would organize similar seminars, they would get an equal number of, if not more, interested schools.”

For their part, the Rowan student section is responding to the demand by setting up a Web-based version of the seminars and creating a Web-board, which will enable follow-up discussions and question-and-answer sessions. Both services will enhance the support they offer, and will extend their reach to geographically remote teams unable to attend the seminars in person.

 
Bringing In Members
In addition to helping high school students, “We decided that these seminars would be a good opportunity to spread the name of our school— being a new program—and also to help grow the field of engineering in the eyes of high school students,” said former section chairman Seidman. “We’re really trying to put our name out there and provide a good deal of assistance.”

Rowan ASME students have previously been involved with FIRST, volunteering at the Region II event, held at Rutgers University, South Brunswick, N.J., each of the last two years, and informally assisting the local Camden County Vocational Technology (CCVT) high school with the design of their robot. This year, in addition to the seminars, Rowan is again working closely with CCVT and will, for the first time, have their school’s name emblazoned on a FIRST robot.

Clearly this young ASME student section is off to a strong start, building a tradition of service. Not surprisingly, their membership has grown with each new activity, both in numbers and in level of dedication. The production of these seminars was no exception. Rowan’s reach beyond its campus boundaries proved to be one of the section’s most effective membership recruiting activities to date.

“We got a lot of people who were not previously involved in Rowan ASME to participate in the seminars, and they’ve been involved ever since,” said Shah. “Getting new members was an unexpected benefit.”

For more information on Rowan’s seminars, visit http://engineering.rowan.edu/~asme/asme.html.