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Mechatronics Club Wins Gold!
April 21, 2009 - The North Central State College Mechatronics Club took 10 robots, designed and built by club members, to the National Robotics challenge that took place Saturday, April 18, in Marion, Ohio. A robot designed by NC State student Richard Gast, took first place in the Robot Maze (Non-Tactile) contest, beating the closest college competitor by 19 seconds.
The Mechatronics Club 100 pound, self-controlled Sumo robot also made it into the Semi-Finals and only lost to the two robots that placed first and second.
The Club members are: Club President, Christie Rawls, and Katy Schoonyan, Emma Eichorn, Richard Gast, Jim Larson, Jim Price, Adam Floro, and faculty advisors, Randy Storms, Richard Karsmizki and Brian Baldridge. Several of the team members worked at the College’s Kehoe Center until 2:00 AM Friday night prior to Saturday’s contest to get everything ready and run last minute checks.
Emma Ichorn is a Northmor Freshman who entered her robot in at the High School level. Twice her robot got to the final turn in the maze and then got stuck in a dead end, 2 feet from the finish line. She had the fastest time until that point.
This year had its biggest turnout of colleges and universities ever. Competing teams came from prior champion teams representing Ohio Northern along with teams competing from Iowa, Arizona, and Indiana.
According to Ken McCreight, Dean of Technology and Workforce Development, “These NCSC students are so dedicated that they each purchased many of the materials for their robots with their own money, and without the help from any outside source. There are not words enough to describe how proud I am of Randy Storms, Brian Baldridge, and Rick Karsmizki for their dedication to teaching, the extreme long hours and the guidance that they offered to our students of the Mechatronics Club.”
NC State student Richard Gast won gold at the National Robotics competition. Several NC State female members of the team took pride in building, and programming their own robots. Christie Rawls, Katy Schoonyan, and Emma Eichorn each entered competing robots in a competition that was once considered a non traditional career pathway.
The North Central State College Mechatronics Club was sponsored by the NC State College Foundation and SpaceTec.
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About SpaceTEC
Formed in 1994, the Community Colleges for Innovative Technology Transfer (CCITT) is a national consortium of community colleges committed to incorporating innovative technological dimensions into existing and future educational programs and services. The twelve member colleges participating in this initiative are affiliated with NASA centers or Department of Defense locations. Collectively, these participating institutions enroll over 400,000 students annually and are located in areas with a high concentration of aerospace companies employing over 250,000 technicians and aerospace specialists.
In 2002, the National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded a three-year grant to CCITT to establish a National Aerospace Technical Education Center, thus SpaceTEC® was formed. SpaceTEC® will formalize aerospace technician education nationally and establish a skills-based standards program that has industry-wide endorsement.
The Center will sponsor regional and national advisory committees, national articulation with K-12 and post-secondary institutions, a national professional development organization, a formal certification process in conjunction with the National Skills Standards Board, innovative faculty development, resources for national dissemination, coordinated curriculum development, and instructional materials with space-related themes. NCSC / SpaceTEC Co-PI Ken McCreight holds national Certification as an Aerospace Technician, Randy Storms will complete his national certification exam on May 4th.
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