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Volunteer mentoring program teaches roboticsBy Maggie Rossiter Peterman
It's a drill two GE Healthcare engineers - Rob Washenko and Bob Schulz - have performed 20 hours a week for six weeks each of the last four years to assist Memorial High School science and aerospace engineering teacher Ben Senson in the development of a high school robotics program. "We teach students how to think to solve problems," said Washenko, 50, an engineering manager and inventor at GE Healthcare in Madison. "What a great way for us to get students interested in technology and science. They are our employees of the future." GE Healthcare has pumped more than $35,000 into materials, tools and competition fees so students from Memorial, Madison West and LaFollette high schools could design a competitive robot - this year one the size of a small riding lawn mower - shipped Feb. 20 to the US Cellular Arena in Milwaukee. Fifty-five Midwest high school teams will roll out their robots March 8 to compete during a three-day regional contest sponsored by GE Healthcare. The final rounds are scheduled for March 10 at the Milwaukee arena. "We've had some big successes with students ending up at prestigious colleges because they have participated in the robotics program," said Schulz, 56, a manufacturing engineer who implements designs. "One is at MIT." Mentors helped to create a professional work environment and gave structure to discussions and design work as the two generations crafted a robot from a kit of motors, electronic components, radio controllers, aluminum framing and other materials. Washenko and Schulz tutored students interested in mechanical design, while other mentors helped with electronics, computer programming and business. "I couldn't do it without them," Senson said. "The mentors increase the amount of individual attention kids get and the exposure to different engineering techniques and business practices." Students developed concepts, built drive trains, constructed forklifts, wired electrical circuits and control panels and drafted a three-dimensional computer-aided design of the robot during four-hour weeknight and Sunday sessions and six-hour Saturday workshops. "This is an opportunity to work with young people and create enthusiasm about the wonders of science and technology," he said. "If we don't promote science and technology and everyone becomes a business major, then the United States is going to be left behind." Some nights students pounded out solutions in heated debates. "We have a good group of kids who are confident in their ideas and keep moving forward," Washenko said. "The debates have been pretty robust, but they haven't gotten too personal." Lyle Hatfield, 49, an electronics technician at TomoTherapy Inc., also has invested four years as a volunteer in the program. Hatfield consulted with Sam Greene, 14, a West freshman, as the teen soldered a wire to a variable resister, a device that controls the voltage. "I've learned there are some really, really sharp kids," Hatfield said. A newcomer to Madison, Greene moved in July from Honolulu where he attended a private school. Greene's physics background helped him in writing programs that check the voltages on the robot. "Lyle has taught me everything I know about programming," Greene said. Mentors applauded the students' academic skills and work ethic. "This happens to be a dynamite group of students," Schulz said. "They are uncommonly bright. In past years, they've done a lot more socializing." Now that Schulz's two children have launched their careers, he's looking for ways to give back to the community. He's given up practicing the piano and repairing the cracks in the walls of his house to coach high school students in electronic and mechanical systems. "Kids are more important," he said. "And this is a lot more fun," he said. Maggie Rossiter Peterman is a Madison freelance reporter. mjpeterman@sbcglobal.net madison.com ©2009 Capital Newspapers. All rights reserved. |
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