Outreach Events 2018
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The Alabama Astrobotics Team participates in many outreach events each cycle. Events range from on campus demonstrations to elementary school visits with the aim to inspire students to be involved and interested in STEM activities and careers.
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African American History Challenge - April 24, 2018
Astrobotics' participation in this event is the result of a first time collaboration with an organization known as 100 Black Men of West Alabama. The team is designing and fabricating game-show-like buzzers to be used by teams from two separate elementary schools during their African American history trivia competition. In order to promote interest in engineering, our team members visited each school and demonstrated to the students how the device works as well as how it was constructed. The final competition between the top team from each elementary school was televised by a local news station, WVUA TV-23, check out the link to the story below!
http://wvua23.com/students-face-off-in-african-american-history-challenge/
http://wvua23.com/students-face-off-in-african-american-history-challenge/
Girls Do Science - April 7, 2018
For the second year, we have partnered with the UA chapter of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) to host "Girls Do Science". The event was family oriented with the intention of empowering elementary aged girls to pursue interests in the STEM field. We gave the girls a tour of the lab, followed by a little friendly competition. We challenged them to race our 2018 robot in a 2-minute "dig-off". The girls tried their hardest but were no match for the robot!
Alabama Robotics Competition - April 7, 2018
The Alabama Robotics Competition is an event sponsored by the UA Department of Computer Science in which student teams design, build, and program an autonomous robot capable of maneuvering through a series of obstacle courses. Our team was able to participate in this event in a few different ways. First, we set up an exhibit table showcasing our 2018 robot and discussed the autonomous aspect of competition as well as robotic mining with the students. In addition, the Software/Control Team introduced the audience to an interactive real-time LiDAR sensor that scanned and plotted students in 3D. Lastly, our Faculty Advisor, Dr. Ricks, gave a presentation entitled "Robots aren't just for Earth" as the Keynote Speaker for the event.
http://outreach.cs.ua.edu/robotics-contest/schedule.html
http://outreach.cs.ua.edu/robotics-contest/schedule.html
Shelton State E-Day - April 5, 2018
We had a great time participating in the Shelton State Community College Engineering Day on Thursday, April 5, 2018. At this event we were able to connect with middle and high school aged students and discuss our robot as well as our overall process for NASA RMC 2018. We also spoke with students about the possibilities and opportunities that come with pursuing an education/career in STEM.
RISE Above 2018 - January 10 ~ December 18, 2018
Astrobotics has partnered with the RISE school to create custom workstations for the students that will serve as sensory stations providing visual, audio, and physical stimuli. This project has given the kids, teachers, and therapists a chance to be involved in the design and promoted STEM while displaying its potential for these types of applications. Below is a preliminary design review (PDR) on the project. The stations will be delivered in December of 2018.
UA Men's Tennis Engineering Night - March 2, 2018
The team had a swinging good time at the UA men's tennis match vs Vanderbilt University. It was Engineering night at the match, and freshman member Mason McVicker represented Alabama Astrobotics in the honorary first serve. Big thanks to the UA Athletic department and the UA College of Engineering for collaborating on this night!
UA Science Olympiad - February 24, 2018
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The team had a blast volunteering at the Science Olympiad held at the South Engineering Research Center on campus. Our team was in charge of running an event called the Battery Buggy, in which middle and high school students competed to see whose buggy was the fastest and most accurate.
Bailey Project - November 2, 2017 ~ May 4, 2018
Bailey was born with no arms, no knees, and shortened limbs. At school, he uses a custom wheelchair outfitted to allow him with greater mobility. We have been partnering with Inverness Elementary School in Birmingham, Alabama, where Bailey attends classes, to create a solution that he may use to increase his mobility outside of the classroom. The chair that he uses at school is too large to bring home. We are developing a solution for Bailey to have a solution that will help him at home and at school. Check out the news coverage below on the final reveal of Bailey's car.
https://abc3340.com//news/local/baileys-wheels-7-year-old-without-arms-and-bendable-joints-gets-motorized-car
http://www.wbrc.com/clip/14324255/baileys-new-ride
http://podcasts.shelbyed.k12.al.us/scs-news/2018/05/05/inverness-student-presented-custom-designed-adapted-car-by-university-of-alabama-engineering-students/
https://abc3340.com//news/local/baileys-wheels-7-year-old-without-arms-and-bendable-joints-gets-motorized-car
http://www.wbrc.com/clip/14324255/baileys-new-ride
http://podcasts.shelbyed.k12.al.us/scs-news/2018/05/05/inverness-student-presented-custom-designed-adapted-car-by-university-of-alabama-engineering-students/
"Bailey and his classmates have STEAM centers and we also include Art in kindergarten centers in our classroom. As a class we have talked about the importance of planning, building, and testing your project then making revisions for it to work better. My class has witnessed the development process first hand with Bailey’s car.... Having the Astrobotic Team build this car for Bailey has inspired my class to do more activities with our STEAM centers and to plan, test and question their results. It has also been a huge morale booster for Bailey - he will gain independence traveling to the playground and other areas of our school with a new found independence."
-Debbie Slawinski, Bailey's teacher
"I wanted to thank you and your Astrobotics Team, again, for building the electric car for Bailey. Your students involved themselves is such a worthwhile project that truly made an impact in a little boy's life and mobility. Thank you all for sharing your expertise and your time. You made a difference in a student's life and you are all heroes to us at Inverness! Thank you!"
-Christine Hoffman, Principal at Inverness Elementary School
Inverness Elementary School's Belief Statement:
-Debbie Slawinski, Bailey's teacher
"I wanted to thank you and your Astrobotics Team, again, for building the electric car for Bailey. Your students involved themselves is such a worthwhile project that truly made an impact in a little boy's life and mobility. Thank you all for sharing your expertise and your time. You made a difference in a student's life and you are all heroes to us at Inverness! Thank you!"
-Christine Hoffman, Principal at Inverness Elementary School
Inverness Elementary School's Belief Statement:
- Students grow in an environment in which they feel safe, are supported, and have a sense of belonging..
- Students learn best when they are actively engaged and have challenging and meaningful learning experiences.
- Students achieve more in a school with high expectations and adults who believe they can be successful.
- Student motivation and achievement is enhanced through collective responsibility and partnerships.
Women's Fast Break Halftime Show Demonstration - November 16, 2017
Alabama Astrobotics demonstrated MARTE 2017 to about 5000 fifth graders from areas all over Alabama! This, in coordination with Alabama Athletics, was intended to promote the visibility of engineering and science majors and what amazing things can be done in these fields.
NASA Days - November 2~3, 2017
Thanks to the UA College of Engineering and the Capstone Engineering Society, we are able to host several industry partners that support NASA as well as the Space Launch System (SLS) right here at UA! We set up a table on the Shelby Engineering Quad displaying prototypes of 3D printed parts, BP-1, and live demos of MARTE. Company representatives, as well as UA students, get the opportunity to learn more about Alabama Astrobotics through this networking event.
E-Day - October 5, 2017
E-Day gives prospective students a closer look at the College of Engineering, and participants will receive a realistic view of how engineering skills are used in everyday life. Alabama Astrobotics started the day with lab tours to show everyone how we build, design, and test our robot each year. We also had a booth set up near the engineering quad focusing on the design of our robot and the outreach activities we have performed.
World of Works - October 12~13, 2017
The goal of the event is to attract youths to careers. More than 4,000 eighth grade students and hundreds of high schoolers from nine counties in West Alabama attended and explored career opportunities for their future. Nine “Worlds” were featured as potential pathways for the children. Listed Below:
- World of Agriculture
- World of Construction
- World of Energy/Utilities
- World of Engineering/Environment
- World of Healthcare
- World of Hospitality/Tourism
- World of Manufacturing/Automotive/Logistics
- World of Public Service
- World of Transportation
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RISE School Volunteering - December 1, 2017 ~ May 4, 2018
We are excited to be once again helping the RISE school center with several projects this year. Each week, a few members of the team spend time playing with the kids, observing their specific needs, and assisting classroom leaders in caring for the kids.