Grant to fund MSU's first robotics program in fall

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MSU will begin its first robotics program this fall after recently receiving a $60,200 grant from the Motorola Foundation.

The uG9-12 Robotics Competition-Driven Mentoring Program, funded by the communication company’s Innovation Generation grant program, will consist of about 20 first- and second-year MSU engineering students.

The group not only will develop and design robots, but also mentor robotics teams from six different high schools in Lansing and Detroit, said Drew Kim, assistant to the dean for recruitment and K-12 outreach in MSU’s College of Engineering, who applied for the grant.

“I think it’s important, especially first-year students, to learn problem-solving skills through engineering designing processes,” Kim said. “It’s a very important skill to have and everything they tackle in the field of engineering.”

Mechanical engineering junior J.T. Whitman, coach of MSU’s collegiate robotics team, said the two parts of the program work together.

“Through their work on their own project, (students) will in a sense be trained and be able to help high school level teams as well,” Whitman said.

Last year, Whitman worked with several high school teams through VEX Robotics, a national high school robotics program, and accompanied one team to Dallas for the 2009 VEX Robotics World Champion Competition.

The group is targeting several schools in Detroit that are composed of minority students and girls, who are underrepresented in the field of engineering.

“We’ve always worked closely with the Detroit areas and we want to continue that, especially with the economy the way it is,” Kim said. “Some of the teams that were sponsored before, because their sponsors reduced their contributions, they’re really cutting out some of the schools.”

Three of the groups have previously been involved in the VEX Robotics program and worked with MSU.

Although the concepts are similar to uG9-12, the MSU students mentoring the high schoolers have not had any formal training as they will with the uG9-12program.

Students who have experience working and constructing robots are 400 percent more likely to continue with engineering than those who did not get involved with a robotics program, Kim said.

“Our goal really is to get middle school and high school or college students involved in such a thing as this so they can continue their interest in engineering,” Kim said.

This is the fourth year MSU has received the grant from the Motorola Foundation under its Innovation Generation grant program. Scholarships also have been given to students in various programs meant to encourage students and their teachers to explore engineering and scientific research.

Civil engineering sophomore Renee Lynde, a mentor with the LEGO League, an MSU robotics program with student mentors for elementary and middle school students, said robotics are not only an educational experience for the kids, but a gratifying one personally.

“(The kids) get to build robots and mess around with computers and programing all this stuff they never did in class or in school,” Lynde said. “It is really potentially helping them decide to go into the field of technology.”

Whitman said the connection he has been able to make in the community has been a defining feature of being involved in MSU’s robotics programs.

“The robotics has really just opened up more of an outreach or a service role than a technical role,” Whitman said.

Last year, Whitman opened a VEX Robotics team at his alma mater, DeWitt High School in DeWitt, Mich.

MSU has helped the team find parts, enter and attend the competition in Dallas, and will continue to assist them for the next several years. The coach and mentor of the team, Rob Bush, said the team gives students a skill set they can use in the real world, even if they are not going into robotics.

“It’s a great benefit,” Bush said. “They learn a lot more about science and engineering. They benefit with the team work. It will help them throughout college and life.”

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