FIRST Ladies
  • HOME
    • Register
    • Shirts!
  • About
    • FAQ
  • Promote
  • Blog
  • Pen-Pal
  • Resources
  • Contact Us

Leadership for Women

4/21/2018

0 Comments

 
During a recent drive to work, I listened to an NPR broadcast of an interview with Michelle Obama.  The interviewer asked her “Do you have any regrets?” I was a bit surprised at the former first lady’s response: “yes”.  When she continued (and I’m paraphrasing here) “I regret that I didn’t find my voice when I was younger. That I spent time in awe of the people who were sitting at the table, thinking that they knew so much more than me.  But when I arrived at the big table, I found that the others really didn’t know anything more than I did. So, I regret that I didn’t put my ideas out there when I was younger.”
I think that what Michelle Obama was saying was that she regrets not being more of a leader earlier in her life.  As John Maxwell (1) defines it: “Leadership is Influence. Nothing more, and nothing less.” So how do you come to have influence?  I think there are 3 simple guidelines for this.
  • Know your stuff.  You don’t have to be the expert or have the most technical knowledge, but you can’t influence others (i.e. get your ideas adopted), especially in a technical field, if you aren’t competent.  Find people who know more than you, and use their knowledge to compliment what you are learning through your studies and your experiences. Form relationships with these people, so you can rely on their guidance throughout your career. Don’t be afraid to ask questions (it does NOT make you look stupid!), and recognize that “knowing your stuff” is a lifelong endeavor.  When you are competent, you can also be confident, which is a requirement for a good influencer, and thus a good leader.
  • Know yourself.  By this I mean be honest with yourself about your strengths and weaknesses.  Contrary to what you might think, you should focus a larger part of your time and effort on building upon your strengths, not on improving your weaknesses.  When you know and recognize your limits, you can strive to build teams that include people who have strength in your weak areas, freeing you up to focus on what you do best.  Self-reflection is a fantastic way to increase your knowledge of yourself, and again you should tap on others for feedback to help you gain insight into what you do well and what you don’t.  And take that feedback as a gift! Even though it might be painful to hear from someone you respect that you have gaps in your skillset, it is invaluable information for you to use to improve your effectiveness. This feedback should be used to self-correct: to deliberately modify the way you show up to others.   I also call this being coachable. If you always respond to feedback with an excuse or explanation of why you are right or why it is someone else’s fault, people will stop giving you the very feedback that could help you continue to grow.
  • Know your team.  Following up the idea of knowing yourself and your strengths and weaknesses, you need to invest in knowing the same of your teammates.  The best teams are combinations of people with different strengths -- this allows the team to achieve more than what the individuals could by working separately. This is huge!  When you are working against technical and time deadlines (does that sound familiar??), multiplying your effectiveness by having team members with complimentary skillsets is invaluable!  Knowing others takes empathy (that is understanding and sharing the emotions of others). By understanding what motivates others, you can help them better know themselves and work to build upon their strengths.   This is so important as a leader, because people want to align themselves with someone who not only gets results, but who also makes them perform better, too.
Recognize that as a female in a technical field you will more than likely find yourself in the minority quite often.  That can be a GOOD THING. Being different makes you stand out, and demonstrating and growing your leadership skills gets you selected for increased responsibility.  I think that you can recognize that you have tremendous opportunities to build on these ideas as a female participant in the FIRST program. So, go out there and find the work that motivates you, that helps you “relish achievement for its own sake (2)”.  And develop your leadership skills so that your voice can be heard early on – so you don’t look back with regret that you didn’t have the confidence to influence the conversation sooner. I can’t wait to follow you FIRST Ladies into a very bright future.

References
  1. The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, by John C. Maxwell, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1998
  2. “What makes a Leader” by Daniel Goleman, published by the Harvard Business Review, 1998

This blog was written by Joyce Witowski, mentor of FRC team 2468. If you are interested in blogging for FIRST Ladies, click here to sign up on the schedule. ​​​​​

Joyce Witowski has over 30 years of experience as an engineer and leader in the area of semiconductor manufacturing technology.  She has held a variety of technical and leadership positions at Intel, General Electric, KLA-Tencor and NXP, spanning process engineering and operations, applications engineering, sales, procurement and quality.  She is currently the Director of front-end quality at NXP Semiconductor in Austin, Texas.  Joyce holds a BA in Chemistry from Washington and Jefferson College and an MS in Chemical Engineering from Clarkson University.  She has been a mentor for FRC team 2468 for the past 9 years, focusing mostly on project management and outreach.

0 Comments

FTC's Social Onion: A Brief Retelling of My Experience as a Co-captain of an All-girls Team

4/14/2018

0 Comments

 
Typically choosing to surround myself with those who identify as “progressive individuals”, the most sexism I had faced was from teenage boys attempting to find refuge behind the light of their computer screens while throwing verbal attacks in my direction out of envy of my personal successes.

To say that choosing to participate in FIRST Tech Challenge has been one the best decisions I have ever made would be an understatement. Because of the program, I have identified a deep passion for engineering and computer science, I have something to concentrate on and look forward to, and I have made lasting connections with students and professionals across the United States.

Encountering small tufts of sexism too, has been a blessing; even if it is one that has been disguised. Being the co-captain of an all-girls team, and a social one that too, I have encountered quite a few of these tufts.

No matter how much we attempt to drill the idea of Gracious Professionalism and Coopertition into FIRST students, there will still be quiet sexist exchanges that can only be dug out from the memories of those tied into some of the tightest social circles in the FIRST Tech Challenge. Social circles that unravel themselves as an onion would—with those most passionate, successful, and social at the center, and those progressively less so with each layer of the onion.

This past season, I had unknowingly worked my way towards the center of this social onion. Here, I was tagged as one of the more “chill” girls out the of the few girls that were in this odd circle. The closer I got towards the center, I would realize later on, the more acceptable sexist remarks became. After further inspection, I came to a realization that most students were against these remarks, but would say nothing in fear of being marked as “uncool”, and losing their position in the group. Classic.

The number of boys I ran into who clung onto the idea that my team (and other all-girls teams) won awards and advanced solely because of the fact that we are an all-girls team is ludicrous. Oftentimes, they would neglect the fact that we had put in hundreds of hours into perfecting our team’s work (just as they had with their own teams), and would claim that our gender immediately secured awards for the team.

One would expect that after 0 all-girls teams from New Jersey moved onto East Super Regionals the barrage of sexist one-liners would ultimately cease. Instead, a handful of unrelenting boys moved onto more personal attacks. A team once called me out of the blue, and members took turns insulting my work, my team’s advancement status, and even my relationship status. It was especially unsettling because this was a team that we had once worked with very closely. One member (whom I had never even met) went so far as to Direct Message me and make disparaging comments on my intelligence, and my team members’ mental capacities.

It is important, dear FIRST friends, to remain nonchalant in situations like these, and refuse to swoop down to their level and attack them in return. One must hide the frustration and hurt as refraining from doing so will only encourage the oppressor.

It is interesting to note that all these occurrences took place online. Perhaps it is their fear of judges lurking in the shadows, or maybe it is because their confidence suddenly wavers when they can see the faces of those who they are hurting; whatever it is, no one has attempted to make such disgusting comments towards my teammates to our faces at competitions.

It was almost comical that these boys were so bothered by our success that they had dedicated so much time to attempt to stop us. The thought process behind this, however, needs to be brought to the light: being discredited for one’s own work is the daily reality for far too many women in STEM fields. Although these are merely small acts of sexism, and nothing like the growing number of cases of women being sexually harassed in the workplace, it must be addressed. We must extinguish even the smallest of flames as they always have the potential to grow into large, uncontrollable fires.

Aparna Rajesh
FTC: 11306
Prototype G

This blog was written by Aparna Rajesh of FTC team 11306 Prototype G. If you are interested in blogging for FIRST Ladies, click here to sign up on the schedule. ​​​​​
0 Comments

My Experience in FIRST - Katie Kolodner

4/7/2018

0 Comments

 
As a middle school student in a program dedicated to the Humanities and Communications and comprised of around 90% girls, I believed my obligatory future lay in the liberal arts. Despite my gradually growing passions for mathematics and the sciences, I suppressed my interests in school projects to walk a path similar to that of other girls who loved film and media. By the end of my first quarter in middle school, I had essentially deluded myself in the belief that I needed to precisely mirror others in my grade.
    Later that year my dad volunteered to be a judge at the FIRST Tech Challenge Maryland Championship that was being held at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, inviting my brother and me along to watch the competition. Touring the presentation area, I was astounded to discover such complex robots and became fascinated with the obscure, undeveloped idea of engineering I had generated at the time. When qualifying matches began in the field area, however, I was disheartened to discover solely or mostly male drive teams. Perceiving the lack of girls controlling and mobilizing the robot at this competition, though not extinguishing my newly kindled interest in FIRST, was a discouraging experience that instituted tighter chains around my cage of doubt. Yet, as I attended more and more qualifiers and state championships over the years, I noted increased female representation and consequently grew a small kernel of hope that I, too, could become an integral member of a FTC team.
    This dream, initially overshadowed by disbelief and apprehension, came into fruition when I applied to a local FTC team through my high school in my sophomore year. My acceptance into Team 5421, RM’d and Dangerous, which I had seen competing even during my middle school years, has opened new doors and allowed me to integrate myself in STEM more closely than ever before. The other girls in my team have additionally given me priceless encouragement, and I am extremely fortunate to have been able to overcome the intimidating, male-only notion of STEM engendered in me early on.
    I hope that girls who may be facing such challenges in the present can realize that their futures are not determined by others. Similarly, I aspire that girls will be able to discover a network and community of unique individuals to support them throughout their STEM journey. My greatest piece of advice as someone whose hesitation and uncertainty transformed into passion and confidence is thus to not be afraid to deviate from the norm and instead embrace a new direction. After all, individuality in STEM can only foster, not hinder, both personal and collective growth.

This blog was written by Katie Kolodner of FTC team 5421 RM'd and Dangerous. If you are interested in blogging for FIRST Ladies, click here to sign up on the schedule. ​​​​​
0 Comments

Funding a FIRST Team PART 2: Sponsorship

4/2/2018

0 Comments

 
Competing on robotics teams is impossible without funding. Robotics is an expensive sport, and fundraising allows teams to do what they do! This being said, the process of fundraising can be difficult to start and to continue. So here are some tips on how to start and what to look for when finding and recruiting sponsors
    Sponsors are individuals or organizations that provide funding or other resources to teams. Sponsorships differ from fundraisers in that sponsor relationships are meant to last throughout a season and multiple seasons if you’re lucky! Unlike fundraisers, sponsorships are also meant to be reciprocal. There are four big steps to obtaining sponsorship: setting groundwork, identifying potential sponsors, reaching out to sponsors, and maintaining sponsor relationships.

Groundwork:
    The first thing teams should be doing is documenting what needs their season will entail. Creating a projected budget for your upcoming season is a great way to start (see previous blog for details on preliminary budgeting). But needs of teams aren’t exclusively financial. When looking for sponsors, it is important to recognize that sponsors can do more than provide financial support.  Sponsors are also great sources for materials, mentorship, and services.
    This all plays into the groundwork your team should be doing. When looking at the needs of your team, look at things your team can be sponsored for instead of buying yourself. Teams spend a lot of money on branding materials, team shirts, and printing a new engineering notebook every single year. These are needs too!     
    Another great way to start a season is by writing a business plan. Optimally, business plans should be a great house for your early budgets. They are a great tool when setting short term and long term goals, looking at your team’s strengths and weaknesses, creating a mission statement to outline what motivates your team, and documenting budgets and expenses. Business plans help to make your team seem professional and organized, and are impressive to companies that will have business plans of their own.
    Sponsorship letters are similar, but more condensed. Letters should be only one page, and include brief team history, financial needs, what FIRST is, and contact information. Having all of this written beforehand will come in handy later...
    But before any money comes into your team, there needs to be a plan for how money will be funneled. Does your team have a bank account? Is money run through your school? Are donations to your team tax deductible? The worst thing would be to receive money but have nowhere for it to go.

Identifying Potential Sponsors:
    Once your team is fully ready, budget and business plan in hand, now is the time to find companies or individuals that may be able to sponsor your team.
    As earlier mentioned, don’t limit your focus to just monetary sponsorship. There is a world of experts and resources that are willing to help out teams if teams find them. This is to say, don’t narrow your focus to companies who could give you money. Find companies and individuals who also specialize in things you need done: printing, machining, 3D printing, plastic work, etc.  A great example is finding a printing sponsor willing to make business cards, posters, and print new versions of an engineering notebook before tournaments. Or finding local manufacturing companies that are willing to cut sheet metal or plastic.
    When finding companies, start by looking at parent companies and companies that are already aware of FIRST. The businesses team member parents work for are often a great place to start. Your team already has a connection, and parents will know who the right person to talk to is for sponsorship. From there, look at companies that sponsor other teams. Some bigger businesses sponsor multiple teams, already know the values of FIRST, and are committed to supporting teams in their communities.
    From there, start a giant list! List all of the STEM companies in your city, all of the companies who might be able to provide you with something other than money, and anyone (like a local chamber of commerce) that might be able to get you in contact with companies you might not have been aware of. The bigger the list--the better!

Reaching out to Sponsors:
    Here is where all of your groundwork documents come into play. With your giant list of potential companies, start writing down contact info for each. Now is where you can start emailing your sponsorship letter around.
    But what has been most valuable is making phone calls…….dun dun DUHHHH. Calling to ask for sponsorship or to set up a time to talk to someone about sponsorship is terrifying. Again, some preparation is needed before picking up the phone. Cold calling scripts should include your name, your team’s name, where you are from, what you are looking to do, a phone number to call you back, and if you’re setting up a meeting over the phone, include dates that would work for your team. The important thing about these scripts is to keep them concise. You don’t want to lose the attention of the person on the other end. Here’s an example:
    Hi, I’m ______ from FIRST Tech Challenge Robotics Team from _______ High School, we’re fundraising for our season. I was wondering if we could come in and give a sponsorship presentation for your company.

+Wait for response+
Great! Does sometime next week work after 4?
    Note how this script asks to set up a presentation. If at all possible, set up face to face presentations for important individuals within a company. Your team is a lot harder to ignore when you are in front of someone talking to them. Here are some tips for scheduling sponsorship presentations:
  • Schedule an hour of time
    • Presentation should be no more than half of your scheduled time
    • Leave room for questions at end
  • When to call to schedule presentations
    • Wednesdays and Thursdays
    • 8:00am-9:00am
    • 4:00pm-5:00pm
    • Always use voicemails
  • Have one team member be the point-of-contact
  • Suggest times and days that work
  • If nothing happens, CALL BACK
    In presentations, what your team says and how your team says it become especially important. Presentations should be around 15 minutes, and your whole team does not need to be present. Business plans become useful when presenting too because they show that your team takes itself seriously and has outlined goals and documented financial/material needs. The team I am on found that a core four people works really well. Presentation content should include:
  • About your team
  • About FIRST
  • Your technical work
  • Your outreach work
  • Your Business Plan
  • Your Budget
    • Including how much money you need
      • Don’t be shy about saying numbers and projected expenses!
      • My team even prints out full copies of our business plan and flags the financial section. We leave this copy with the person we’ve presented to so they have something to look over.
    • What money would be used for
  • Bring your robot if you can!
    • Whenever possible, use visuals. If you present in a conference room, ask if you can set up a powerpoint presentation and show video of your robot in competition. These all make explaining robotics and your team a bazillion times easier!
    The most important thing to remember when you are presenting for sponsorship is to make it very clear what your team is looking for. Potential sponsors should not have to guess what you want. Show your budget, explain what it takes to fund a team for a season, and even ask for specific amounts. It doesn’t ever hurt to be direct, though it might feel a bit uncomfortable.
Maintaining Sponsor Relationships:
    Sponsors are most valuable when they continue to support your team over multiple seasons. The brunt work of making this happen is on your team. Sponsorships are more than fundraisers and donations in that they are also intended to go both ways! Teams should be providing for sponsors in the same way sponsors provide for them. A lot of teams do this by plastering sponsor names and logos on their robots, shirts, websites, pit areas, and pretty much everywhere. This is a great start, but there is more that you can do to keep up with your sponsors and keep them engaged in your team!
   First of all, send thank you notes! Handwritten thank you’s go a really long way, especially after presenting to a company and you are fresh in their mind. Send thank you notes early and often!!!
    Secondly, focus on updating your sponsors with your team’s progress and how you are utilizing their support. My team sends monthly newsletters, and updates before and after every single tournament. It is also nice to invite sponsors to come watch your team at competitions (again, handwritten is best)!
    Thirdly, offer to demo for your sponsors! It’s another great way to keep your sponsors in the loop as your team and your team’s robot changes throughout a season.
    With these tips, your team is all set to hit the ground running for the upcoming season!

This blog was written by anonymous. If you are interested in blogging for FIRST Ladies, click here to sign up on the schedule. ​​​​​
0 Comments

Funding a FIRST Team Part 1: Groundwork and Fundraisers

3/24/2018

0 Comments

 
(tune in next week for Part 2: Sponsorship)    

Competing on robotics teams is impossible without funding. Robotics is an expensive sport, and fundraising allows teams to do what they do! This being said, the process of fundraising can be difficult to start and to continue. So here are some tips on how to start and what to look for when setting up and running fundraisers.

How to Start
  1. Utilize your off season: The best time to fundraise in when your team is not mid competition season. Working in the off season gives time to fundraise well, and helps your team hit the ground running in your upcoming season.
  2. Budgeting: Writing a budget is the best possible place to start in the offseason. Budgeting allows teams to anticipate costs and create a fundraising goal. Plan for no surprises! Good budgets should include the costs of everything your team spends money on in a season. Include robot hardware, parts, electronics, motors, servos, anything that needs to be replaced, tools, materials, FIRST’s registration fee, tourament registration fees, team branding materials, cost of running events, travel costs if your team competes out of state, and probably a lot of duct tape.
  3. Business Plan: Writing a business plan not only checks off one requirement for your season, but it also helps teams outline their goals for said season. Your budget should fit your goals---teams that want to do more have to spend more. Along with goals, business plans are a home for your preliminary budget as well as actual team income and expenditures. Example business plans are available on the FIRST website.

Once you’ve set the groundwork for raising money, your team is ready to go! But how do you find sponsors and fundraising opportunities?

Finding Fundraisers
  • Fundraisers are an easy way to raise quick money for teams. However, fundraisers are usually one-time opportunities, and do not carry the potential for long-time relationships like sponsorships do.
    • An easy way to set up fundraisers is to look at what local school sports teams are doing, and hop on opportunities wherever possible. In my team’s school district, restaurants like Chipotle, Chick fil-A, Culvers, and Leeann Chin offer fundraisers for sports teams wherein a percentage of sales within a certain timeframe go back to the team. These have been quick commitments that yield a few hundred dollars apiece. Not bad!
    • Teams I’ve been on have also made good use of crowdfunding sites like GoFundMe. These sites will take a small percentage of money raised, but they can be incredibly beneficial and low-commitment. The value of GoFundMe lies in how easy it makes small donations. Often, families of team members want to contribute to their loved-one’s teams, and GoFundMe makes that simple.

Setting up Fundraisers
  • Once you know where there are opportunities for fundraisers, the next step is to get in the door!
    • A great first step is to make phone calls. This will take some prep work as well. Your team should write a brief script before making any actual calls. Call scripts should include who your team is, where you are from, what you are looking for, and ways of contacting you back. Prepare for this to take no more than 30 seconds, or you risk losing the attention of the person on the other end of the phone call. When calling, have an idea of when your team would be able to be present at a fundraiser too.
    • Emails work when trying to set up fundraisers, but they make less impact than calling or showing up to a business physically. Same as with phone calls, emails should be concise and get the point across early.
    • Any way your team decides to get in touch with fundraising opportunities, remember to talk to the person in a company that actually makes decisions and can schedule your team. Talking to a part-time Chick fil-A cashier about your team is a great start, but then you depend on that individual to relay your information to a higher-up. When at all possible, talk to and email managers and supervisors.
  • All of this aside, the most important tip when looking to fund your team is persistence. There will be a lot of companies and individuals who turn you down, and that’s ok! Keep finding new opportunities, leaving voicemails when no one answers your calls, and keep trying!

(tune in next week for part 2: Sponsorship)

This blog was written by anonymous. If you are interested in blogging for FIRST Ladies, click here to sign up on the schedule. ​​​​​
0 Comments

Leonardo da vinci adventure

3/18/2018

0 Comments

 
The Da Vinci Code (By Dan Brown) is one of my favorite books, and being able to learn more about Leonardo, and see his works inches away from my face was AWESOME! In 1452, during the Renaissance, a genius was born with the name Leonardo Da Vinci. When he was young, his uncles arranged for him to apprenticeship in the trade of architecture, sculpture, and art. He fascinated with the things around him, and felt the desire to understand the way this world works. It was his habit to always carry around folded pieces of scrap paper, where he could record things he observed, or theories that he formed. Those fragile pieces of 500 year old paper in Leonardo’s own hand, were what we saw, right in front of us! Fun fact: whenever he tried to show motion, he would also repeat and thicken the lines. His notes were tiny and neat, with little drawings on the side. Leonardo not only left incredible paintings for artists, but a legacy for scientist and engineers.

Absolutely amazing in the fact that he could do it all- observe well, write descriptively, draw lifely, and think ingenuisly. He wanted to study the mountains that were around him, and theorized that they formed because of an cave scalpel somewhere, like a see-saw: if something comes up, something else has to come down. Looking at the moon, he saw bumps, and waves, which he was only seen with by the ocean, and believed that the moon had a lot of water on it. Sure, we know today that it wasn’t correct, but just that scientific thinking and hypothesizing is something that we can learn from! Not to mention, he discovered what we today call “earth shine”, which is being able to see not only the shining crescent, but also the dark disk of the moon. Already, he made analogies with water and air currents to how the world is a system, and his genius mind had connected that sound with waves- today’s sound waves! Through observing, Leonardo discovered that water droplets, upon landing on the ground makes a crown shape. Five hundred years back, was he already spot on with something that we need super advance photography technology to spot- that’s mind blowing! He was not only a scientist, artist, but moreover an engineer, who tried to develop a solution for the flooding river. Leonardo’s solution is something that we use today-a dam. He was so great, that the famous painter Raphael, like many people today, deeply admired him, and even painted Leonardo as Pluto on one of his morals!
​
Killer eyesight, observation, and drawing skills, helped him see the world in a different way than majority of the people. He believed that you needed to understand what you observed. We shouldn’t be afraid to be curious and hypothesis. As the wise Leonardo said, “it’s not enough to believe what you see. You must also understand what you see.” One of the biggest things I took away from this experience was what Leonard Da Vinci showed us-to take life slowly, and notice the things around us. Sometimes we’re so focused on sprinting to our destination, that we miss the beautiful scenery along the way. Sometimes we’re too busy looking into the future that we forget the enjoy the present. With the technology today, everything is moving and advancing so quickly, and sometimes we just need to slow down to be able to fully appreciate the beautiful world around us.
0 Comments

Taking Care of Yourself

3/10/2018

0 Comments

 
    With all of your classes, and jobs, and responsibilities, and now Super Regional Tournaments, it’s important to remember not to forget about yourself in the hustle and bustle. It’s hard, when you have a lot of obligations, to take care of yourself. But your own well-being should be your first obligation.
    I realized this slowly over the last few months after I had been going to bed at 3am everyday for over two weeks. I couldn’t stay awake through any of my classes, my graders were suffering, and so were my relationships. I was getting everything done that I needed to, but none of it was done well and I wasn’t proud of any of it. I realized that for me to feel normal and healthy again, I needed to recognize my own needs: sleep, eating well, and taking time to do the things I wanted to and enjoyed doing.
    This doesn’t mean I quit everything, nor does it mean I stopped fulfilling my obligations to my teachers, my teammates, and my friends. Instead, I asked for help. I gave myself room to breathe and tried to give myself a break when I was overwhelmed. My team understood when I told them I couldn’t do all of the work I had committed to, and they helped me take tasks off of my to-do list.
I had to take care of myself in order to be proud of anything I was doing, and to make everything I was doing to feel meaningful. Doing this has made me alert and proactive again, and has allowed me to really enjoy my time in FIRST Robotics.

This blog was written by anonymous. If you are interested in blogging for FIRST Ladies, click here to sign up on the schedule. ​​​​​
0 Comments

3D printing adventure

3/3/2018

0 Comments

 
3D printing was one of those things that I always wondered about, but never actually did any research. Well, thanks to this trip to 3D printing company, Stratasys, I uncovered a whole new world! I learned a lot of technical things from the tour guides, but just saying that I learned a couple things would be an understatement. This totally blew my mind, and I was geeking out. It’s not only a tool, but something that is a start of a new generation, new era of thinking and innovation.

We started our tour with Polyjet 3D printing. Polyjet is liquid-based, which takes the ratios of the liquid plastic, and “jets” them out to build the final product. There’s also another type of 3D printing called FDM (Fuse Deposition Modeling). It was interesting to see a injection molding, where they inject the liquid plastic between two molds for finer, detailed designs. I especially found their “rotary into retillier motion” 3D piece fascinating- it would spin a wheel, and get a linear motion (instead of the usual circular motion!).

In the lobby, we were all drawn to a giant 3D printed creature that looked like it walked out of Harry Potter. There, we were introduced to casting material, like paint, to give the printed parts a more desired look. We also dug deeper into how they work with customers, plus R&D (research and development) and Testing. Basically, it’s designing the product, 3D printing it, and continue tweaking/developing it, till it’s to the point where they bring in consumers to test it on. That sounded really cool, and Evan (our guide) described the best part of his job to be helping and working with people.

It absolutely took our breath away to see the world’s largest multi-material 3D printer in action! It was huge, and usually prints for 130+ hours! Here, we learned that a big factor in how long it takes to create a new part, depends on how tall/thick it is. We also got to peek in the backroom, where they presented an innovative idea. The problem with FDM printers are that they create air gaps in the parts, and so someone came up with the genius idea of using a vacuum mold, and pouring the plastic to fill in the gaps.

3D parts are becoming an amazing help in the world, and branching into practically every industry. Fun fact: ESD printed parts, if put between two antennas, can break the interference of radio signals. Another fun fact we stumbled across, upon almost dropping $800 worth of vero-blue (a type of plastic): vero-clear comes out yellowish, but if you leave it under the sun for a while, it will transform into see-through clear. And, who could forget support material? The “magic” that makes printed parts move. With support material, it gives the part a matte feel, or else it becomes glossy. In the end, we all received 3D printed catapults that are made from a certain plastic, that can resist gamma radiation!

Overall, I had a blast learning about 3D printing! There’s so much we could do with it! As long as you have a design, you can create it with a 3D printer! It has made developing prototypes much more efficient, and is less costly. They have already started with 3D printed arms and legs in the biomedical fields. It was incredibly interesting, inspiring, and innovative! With what they have already accomplished, and the endless possibilities of what could happen. As someone wise said today, “if you can think it, you can make it!”
0 Comments

Courage & Public speaking

2/24/2018

0 Comments

 

“Courage: (n) The ability to do something that frightens one.”
    I don’t know about you all, but I find the idea of being authentically myself absolutely terrifying sometimes. Walking in to meet my FRC team for the first time two and a half years ago was incredibly daunting to me - beforehand I had little experience with anything related to robotics or engineering and I didn’t know anyone on the team well.
    While my team was incredibly friendly, welcoming, and accepting, I often find that when I encounter new groups of people, I am overwhelmed by the desire to fit in, most likely because society seems to tell us we need do so in order to be accepted within the group.
    My first year on my FRC team was absolutely amazing, though. I learned many new skills, created new relationships, and discovered new interests. In my second year, I learned a lot about my style of leadership through leading our scouting team, and I learned how to find the confidence within myself to take charge of a situation and make it mine.
    This year, as the CEO of my team, I have learned so many different leadership skills, the most valuable of which is public speaking. I now speak in front of my team at the beginning and end of every meeting, as well as at several of the large events that my team has hosted.
Statistically, 74%1 of people have a fear of public speaking, so I would like to share some of the ways that I have developed skills that allow me to confidently speak in public. 
A few days before your presentation (if possible)
  • Write out the points you want to hit. This encourages you to think about what you want to say before you are in front of an audience.
  • Practice what you want to say. You don’t need to memorize what you wrote by any means, but it allows you to familiarize yourself with the words you would like to use.
The day of your presentation
  • Arrive early. This will remove the stress of running late.
  • Before presenting, take several deep breaths to calm your nerves.
  • Drink water. Getting a dry mouth during a presentation is no fun and makes it harder to talk, so be sure to hydrate!
  • Work on your pauses. Oftentimes you talk faster than you realize when you are nervous.
  • Smile! You sound so much happier when a conscious effort is made to look happy.
  • Realize that making mistakes is okay. None of us are perfect and you are not expected to be. Just do your best; that’s all anyone can ask of you!
https://www.statisticbrain.com/fear-of-public-speaking-statistics/ 
https://www.inc.com/larry-kim/15-power-up-tips-to-make-you-a-better-presenter.html

This blog was written by Megan Wheeler from FRC team 1710. If you are interested in blogging for FIRST Ladies, click here to sign up on the schedule. ​​​
0 Comments

Top 10 fun facts about women engineers

2/17/2018

0 Comments

 
  1. Mary Anderson invented the windshield wiper in 1903, years before Henry Ford industrialized automobile production.
  2. The first "computer program" was designed by a famous poet's daughter in 1843.
  3. Hedy Lamarr, a famous 1930s movie actress, made significant engineering contributions to today's wireless networks.
  4. In 1918, Edith Clarke was the first woman to earn an electrical engineering degree from MIT, and later became the first female Professor of Electrical Engineering in the US.
  5. Eli Whitney’s wife actually invented the cotton gin, as a convenience tool around the house, but women couldn’t patent, so her husband got all the credit.
  6. Emily Roebling was the Chief Engineer during the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge, completed in 1883, when her husband became sick, and so she lead the construction by carrying out her own studies of technical issues, materials, stress analysis, construction and calculations.
  7. Kate Gleason is the only woman in the US to have a college of engineering named in her honor ~ RIT’s Kate Gleason College of Engineering.
  8. Marie Curie was the first person to win two Nobel Prizes for Science.
  9. Martha Coston needed a way to support herself and her children, so she developed a signaling flare system that’s used by the U.S. military and known as Coston flares.  
  10. “By learning to create technology, girls learn to speak up.” - Regina Agyare, Founder of software company Soronko Solutions

This blog was written by anonymous. If you are interested in blogging for FIRST Ladies, click here to sign up on the schedule. ​​​​
0 Comments
<<Previous

    Be a guest author!

    Do you want to be a guest blogger for FIRST Ladies? You can write about a topic of your choice - just sign up on the schedule and your blog will be posted here!

    Click here to sign up!!

    Archives

    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    May 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014

    RSS Feed

Picture

Important Links

Become a FIRST Lady
FIRST Robotics
Order a Shirt!

Follow Us on Social Media
Picture
Picture
Picture
✕