Members
of the 2003 Westside Boiler Invasion FIRST Robotics Team (from
left to right), Matt Auter, Helen Zha, Michael Loesch-Fries, Josh
Harriger, Raj Daftuar, Jason Catlin, Shannon Schnepp, Carl Agnew,
Steve Florence and Michael Zelaznik (sitting).
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For
Immediate Use
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April
2003
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CONTACT:
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Andre
Kepes
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888-866-5776
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Student
Robotics Team Supported By BIG Kaiser Wins
FIRST's Prestigious Chairman's Award, Advances To Finals |
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| Evanston,
IL - A student robotic team from Lafayette, IN, supported by BIG Kaiser
Precision Tooling Inc., Elk Grove Village, IL, has won FIRST's prestigious
Regional Chairman's Award in competition here. The team now moves
onto the FIRST Robotics National Finals in Houston, TX, April 10-12,
2003. |
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| The
Greater Lafayette team, named Westside Boiler Invasion, won four
of six matches with its robot, "Rowdy Pete." The team
consists of Purdue University faculty and staff as well as students
and faculty from neighboring West Lafayette, Jefferson and Harrison
High Schools. |
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| Westside
Boiler Invasion placed 26th out of 53 competing teams in the Midwest
Regional Championship, held on the campus of Northwestern University,
Evanston. The prestigious Chairman's Award honors the team that
best represents a model for other teams to follow. The award also
recognizes sustained excellence in the yearly competitions and impact
on the community. |
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| "I
believe the main reasons we won the Chairman's Award is because
of our amazing team member relationships and community involvement.
Advisors are college students with demanding academic schedules;
we rely heavily on the high school students to be leaders and to
be extremely involved in all aspects of the program. Everyone gets
involved and we carry that message into our community," says
Shannon Schnepp, Vice President of Communications, Westside Boiler
Invasion. |
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| The
FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology)
Robotics Program encourages college students and faculty to mentor
local high school students to develop and pursue interests in science
and technology. By designing and constructing a robot for competition
against other student teams, young adults learn valuable real world
skills and interact with companies and other members of their community. |
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| "FIRST
is more than high school and college students working together,
it's about exchanging ideas, getting involved, learning new skills
and developing new interests. It provides real world problem solving
skills and learning in an environment outside the four walls of
a classroom," says Steve Florence, FIRST Faculty Advisor, West
Lafayette High School. |
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| "The
more I learned about the FIRST Program, the more involved I wanted
to become. This program is truly top notch and the young adults
involved all have very promising futures. I'm extremely pleased
with Westside Boiler Invasion's performance and good spirited sense
of competition," says Andre Kepes, Marketing Coordinator, BIG Kaiser
Precision Tooling. |
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| BIG Kaiser
is a supporting donor of the Westside Boiler Invasion. The success
of FIRST Program teams is dependent on support from team members,
private individuals and corporate sponsors. BIG Kaiser is currently
organizing donations for the machining centers used by the team
at their respective schools. Other notable sponsors of the Westside
Boiler Invasion include DuPont, Microsoft, General Motors, Caterpillar
and the DePuy division of Johnson & Johnson. |
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"Rowdy Pete"
is the combination of two designs by Westside Boiler Invasion.
After studying the initial challenges in January, the team divided
in two and made preliminary designs. The team then came back together
and as a whole chose the best features from each design to create
Rowdy Pete.
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| The
non-profit program runs year round, but each January a new set of
guidelines is released with different challenges and goals for competition.
The participants then have six weeks to design and construct a robot
to compete in performing the specific tasks. The "Stack Attack"
this year has robots collecting and stacking storage containers
on their side of the playing field. Scoring depends on location
of containers and height of the stacks. |
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| The
FIRST Robotics Competition, now in it's twelfth year, is the brainchild
of Dean Kamen. As president and owner of DEKA Research & Development
Corporation, Kamen is best known as the inventor of the revolutionary
Segway™ personal transporter and the first wearable infusion
pump used to administer injections to individuals with chronic health
problems. |
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| The
mission of FIRST is to design accessible, innovative programs to
build self-confidence, knowledge and life skills while motivating
young people to pursue opportunities in science, technology and
engineering. To learn more, visit www.usfirst.org
or call FIRST at 1-800-871-8326, fax 1-603-666-3907 or by mail at
FIRST, 200 Bedford Street, Manchester, NH 03101. |
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| BIG Kaiser
Precision Tooling Inc., based in the Chicago suburb of Elk Grove
Village, is the U.S. subsidiary of Heinz Kaiser AG, Rümlang,
Switzerland. HKAG is a worldwide developer and manufacturer of precision
boring tools of unmatched quality for countless applications in
metalworking. |
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| BIG Kaiser
provides a comprehensive line of tools, tool measurement & presetting
systems, as well as quality tooling accessories. Tooling solutions
from BIG Kaiser include twin cutter roughing heads, single cutter
finishing heads, indexable insert drills, spade drills, tapping
attachments, chamfering tools, face mills and modular tool holder
components. BIG Kaiser also offers Sphinx drills, Unilock
workholding /clamping systems and tool measuring & presetting
systems from Speroni and Diaset. |
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| For
further information on BIG Kaiser's sponsorship of the Greater Lafayette
FIRST Robotics Program, or to learn more about developing the scientists
and engineers of tomorrow by donating machinery, tooling and other
supplies, contact Andre Kepes at BIG Kaiser Precision Tooling. Contact
information for BIG Kaiser located at bottom of web page. |