HHS, Brazilian students test engineering skills
By:Marnie Kunz
Students from Brazil flew in to meet their American partners at Hillsborough High to display their technologic masterpieces at the annual regional Robotics competition March 4-6 at the Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton.
The annual event is the culmination of six weeks of hard work and effort of building the teams’ robots, and is a part of the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) campaign to educate the public about science and technology.
The two schools Hillsborough and Escola Tecwica in Sao Jose Campos, Brazil established a partnership over the past year, which culminated in the Brazilian students’ visit for the competition.
"We helped the Brazilian team start this year, through resources and engineers," said Hillsborough High adviser Tim Zavacki. "They are a child team of ours."
But the child surpassed the parent at their first competition this past weekend, earning a third-place finish among the 48 teams present, while Hillsborough came in at 26. The event wasn’t just about the numbers, though.
"We worked very hard, during the days and nights," said Brazilian adviser Amaril do Jose Perena. "But it was more than a competition. The students got to be part of a cultural exchange."
"For the students, it was very important to experience another country and culture," fellow adviser Roberto Grechi agreed.
Indeed, the students not only got to showcase their engineering skills for the competition but learned a lot about teamwork and each other in the process.
"I really enjoyed the trip," said visiting student Camila Fitzgibbon. "I will definitely keep in contact with team members I met here, by e-mail and phone. I also learned a lot about mechanical electronics and decided I want a personal career in this area."
After attending the competition over the weekend, the visiting students enjoyed a day of activities, including art, athletics and science, at Hillsborough High School with their fellow robotics friends on Monday."It’s been a lot of fun with them," Hillsborough senior Peter Strapp said.
"We established an immediate connection when they came," senior Amanda Barker agreed. "We cheered with each other at the competition and worked as allies."
The Hillsborough High robotics club, the Robo Raiders, began six years ago in conjugation with the national robotics movement, coined FIRST.
"We try to make the community aware of scientific knowledge," Hillsborough physics professor and club adviser Tiberiu D’Luca said.
Team members get the opportunity to work with engineers from Johnson and Johnson and glean hands-on experience in engineering and computer animation.The club members collaborate to build a robot each year, Mr. D’Luca explained. "Each team sets a goal for what function their robots will perform," he said.
After six weeks of electrical and mechanical designing, constructing, planning, testing and designing 3-D animation, the team takes their robot to the competition to showcase their tech savvy, and the robot is judged on its ability to carry out the designated tasks in a two minute time frame. The robotics activities allow students to develop skills and knowledge in the field of engineering.
"The program made me want to go into mechanical engineering," said student Peter Strapp, who is currently applying to colleges for engineering.
Teams are funded by Johnson and Johnson, the schools, and local organizations, Mr. D’Luca said. For more information, visit Hillsborough High School’s robotics club Web site at www.roboraiders.com or the national robotics Web site at www.usfirst.org.