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Robot challenge opens campus to prospective students

Written by Chris Hunt, The Shorthorn staff

Monday, 01 March 2010 08:31 PM

Jonas Fuglaas works on his teams� robot after competing in the first round of the First Tech Challenge on Saturday in the Maverick Activities Center. Fuglaas and his team traveled from Norway to participate in the event. (The Shorthorn: Will LaVoncher)

The College of Engineering hosted the fifth annual Southwest Regional For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) Tech Challenge Saturday in the Maverick Activities Center.

The challenge, called Hot Shot, featured team-built and operated robots capturing baseball-sized plastic balls and tossing them into various receptacles for points. Twenty-four teams of high school robotics technicians battled through 27 qualifying rounds for a shot at the finals.

College of Engineering dean Bill Carroll said it was the best turnout UTA has had at a FIRST event.

Starting this year, a FIRST scholarship is available to attract students from different cities, states and even continents.

J. Carter Tiernan, College of Engineering assistant dean, directed the challenge and provided information about UTA’s College of Engineering.

“All of these kids get to come to our university,” she said.

Hosting the event allows the students to preview the campus — something she hopes will encourage them to explore what the College of Engineering has to offer.

Southlake Carroll team member Matthew Carson ponders during the First Tech Challenge on Saturday in the Maverick Activities Center. Carson had to use a laptop to program their robot�s commands before it could be taken to the competition arena. (The Shorthorn: Will LaVoncher)

Additionally, team participation in a U.S. FIRST Tech Challenge is one of the new scholarship’s requirements.

Interested students must also meet all of the President’s Charter Scholarship requirements, to which the FIRST Scholarship adds $3,000 for a yearly total of $11,000, according to the College of Engineering’s Web site.

Corey Goforth, a senior at Blair High School in Blair, Okla., said he wasn’t considering engineering as a major until Saturday’s challenge. Now he’s interested in studying it at UTA.

“I think this is something I could do,” he said. “This campus is pretty nice.”

Goforth was on the Longshots, the team that won the final competition.

Kale Westover, the Longshots’ team captain and senior at Altus High School in Altus, Okla., will lead his team at the FTC World Championship this April in Atlanta. Westover drove the team’s robot and managed to control it to victory despite multiple illegal rams from the opposite team.

“Mainly the whole team got us here,” he said. “It’s a big accomplishment.”

Team Nardo Robotics, who traveled from Norway to compete, were selected by another team for a final alliance match. Nardo partnered with another team for a doubles match.

“We don’t have FTC in Norway, so we had to come to the U.S. to compete,” said Jonas Fuglaas, driver and software programmer.

He said the College of Engineering’s new scholarship makes the school an enticing choice, especially considering the money already spent on intercontinental competition.

A team from Richland High School competes in the First Tech Challenge on Saturday in the Maverick Activities Center. Competitors assembled robots that could collect balls and shoot them into targets. (The Shorthorn: Will LaVoncher)

Cody Williams, a senior at Huntington High School in Huntington, Texas, said he has wanted to join the College of Engineering since learning about its Formula SAE race team.

Williams, the Gearheads team captain, competes in a Chevrolet-powered race car when not working on robots.

“I started racing go carts when I was five,” he said. “I’m interested in the racing team.”

Tiernan said the FIRST program is fun because it takes something interesting and educational and makes it competitive.

“They get to see that we think this stuff is cool, too and that we’re offering scholarships for it,” she said.
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