Jun 6, 2013 - My experience in creating a robot through participation in ... I love being in robotics; it's a .... program has changed my life, and I am extremely ...
WOMEN IN ENGINEERING
Future of Women in Engineering By Xiaorui Zhu
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n previous columns, we introduced some amazing women in engineering who strive to empower girls through mentoring. But how do those girls feel about such preengineering training? How did they change after participating in such engineering activities? Now we would like to introduce four girls who had such experiences, and you will find details of their experiences. While three of the girls are still in high school, they plan to become engineers and mentor other girls and boys interested in the engineering field. One of them has entered college as a computer science major and is mentoring a local FIRST robotics team. It is a very good sign that our young generation of women engineers is willing to play a bigger role in engineering education. From the other side, the encouragement and support of their mentors is really valuable in the professional lives of these young ladies. Cecilia Estefani Anaya Senior at Pasadena High School, Texas My experience in creating a robot through participation in the FIRST Team 231 and 231C VEX Robotics is very interesting. I have learned so much. I started participating in the meetings t his ye ar w hen my preengineering teacher explained the
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MRA.2013.2255514 Date of publication: 6 June 2013
robotics team. At every meeting I attend, I learn something new. I started building the drive system with my group, and then from there I started making the electronic parts. I find everything interesting; I like to know how everything goes together and how it works. Now I am part of the Pit Crew, and, during competitions, I have to work with my teammates and the engineers to get everything ready for the matches. There are seven girls on our team, and we all have different jobs to do, from scouting, building, and Web designing to pit crew. I would like to thank my mentor, Mr. Scarcella, for all his help and dedication in Robotics; he is my pre-engineering teacher and the one who introduced me to robotics, both VEX and FIRST. He has taught me some valuable lessons throughout the course, and I learn something new every day. He has made the robotics program grow in only two years that he has been in Pasadena ISD. This year, he was able to help our four teams to
qualify for the World Championship, which is amazing, because he taught us to never give up and keep trying and accomplish our goals. The mentors help me in anything that I ask, they tell me how anything works and how to build, and they also give me the chance to try different things and see if they work. I feel comfortable with any mentors, and I admire their ability to do anything. I love being in robotics; it’s a great opportunity for me to get experience in robots. Mr. Scarcella taught me how to work with three-dimensional designs and much more. We have female mentors who come from different schools within our district. Our female mentors help us by organizing our team, getting things together, and recruiting new members to our team. Monica Visinsky, Senior Engineer, Oceaneering Space Systems, is one of our mentors. She comes up with different ideas and concepts for our robot and takes notes of other robots at the competitions to help us pick alliances. I look up to her because she has a Ph.D. in electrical engineering and has a specialty in robotics. All of my mentors have helped me. They tell me how things work and how to build, and they also give me the opportunity to try different things and see whether they will work. I feel comfortable working with all my mentors and admire their ability and effort. As a result of my involvement with the FIRST and VEX Robotics programs,
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I plan to choose the engineering field and become a mechanical engineer. Therefore, I plan to pursue my degree at Texas A&M University in College Station. My mentors and engineers encourage me to keep trying my best and keep up the hard work. They taught me many things. They share their experiences, which increases my enthusiasm to become a mechanical engineer. My parents support my decisions and they encourage me to not give up. I have met many engineers and always tend to ask them about their career and success. One of my mother’s friends is an aerospace engineer at Boeing; she is one of our sponsors. She has told me about her experiences and advised me that there is a lot of study involved. My dreams are possible but it all depends on my desire and willingness to stay focused. I would like to thank my teachers, mentors, engineers, friends, and family because they have helped me through everything and they encourage me to pursue my goals. Shereen Baba Junior at Pasadena Memorial High School, Texas Participating for the first time in the FIRST program, I was drawn to the hands-on activity. Creating a robot is a thrill, and seeing it built before your eyes is exciting! I work on the mechanical parts of the robot. Although it took a
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long six weeks to complete our robot, our team has successfully perfected it. I have learned many lessons during the building period, but mainly it was all about focusing and knowing what you are doing. There are six girls on my team and each one of us has a big impact on the robot as a whole. My mentor plays a very important role by informing us how things need to be done and how these new parts functioned. My female mentor, Monica Visinsky, assisted me with many new tasks. Where I was once unfamiliar, I now know the steps. It inspires me to see other girls and women involved. I am planning to be an engineer, and with the help of this program, I’ve had an early experience with what I want to do in the future. Hopefully, I will fulfill my dreams of becoming an engineer. Kathy Nguyen Tran Junior at Pasadena Memorial High School, California I joined VEX Robotics my sophomore year, not knowing I would love it so much. It was a blast. Being on the robotics team showed me that I was capable of anything. My dedication to VEX grew and drove me to work longer and harder on my robot. Soon, I became the team captain, a driver, and a lead programmer. It would take about two long and hard weeks to completely build the robot, but it was all worthwhile. Teamwork is a big aspect in building a robot. I have learned that without a hard working team, all of this would be almost impossible. You cannot do everything by yourself. The most interesting experience since I have been in VEX is working on autonomous. I can sit there and program that robot all night long without getting bored. I guess that is why I joined FIRST Robotics. I thought if I loved VEX so much maybe I will like FIRST as well. There are sometimes opposing views, but that does not mean my teammates and I do not get along. We all share our ideas and vote on them. This program has changed my life, and I am extremely glad I joined.
My VEX Robotics mentor is one of the most influential people in my life. I would have never loved robotics as much as I do now if it were not for him. His involvement and support for this program grew on me. If it were not for him, my team and I would have never gone as far as we did. I am not exactly sure what I want to do in the future, maybe a hardware computer engineer. But hopefully, I can be like one of the engineers at FRC and mentor the kids in the robotics program. Vanessa Ronan Sophomore at Harvey Mudd College, California Class of 2011 at The Mary Louis Academy, New York My involvement started in my all girls’ high school when a few teachers who had an interest in science approached me about joining the FIRST team that was forming. From there, in our team’s first year we got lucky and won a regional competition. The first time our robot moved down the hallway was really exciting for me. But my most memorable experience was when we had six weeks to build a 120-lb robot to complete tasks such as kicking a ball or picking up inner tubes and putting them on pegs that were up to 9-ft high. We spent nearly 4 h on school days and all day on weekends
working on the robot. The team was made up of 14 girls during the first year I participated and around 20 girls during the second year. We collaborated by dividing up into small groups; each group worked on a specific part of the robot. We helped each other figure out what we were supposed to do and how we could work together to finish our tasks more efficiently. Teamwork is the most important skill that I gained through the process! Our mentor was the key to our success. He taught us machining, electrical and mechanical engineering, and designing skills that were the foundation of building the robot. Without our mentor, it would have taken us much longer to build the robot, and we would have been naïve in engineering without the advice of an engineer.
My parents are both engineers (my father is a mechanical engineer and my mother is a civil engineering professor). They never specifically encouraged me to be involved in the field of robotics/automation. I have always wanted to pursue a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) field even though I grew up in a supporting-of-all-interests atmosphere. I grew up loving and appreciating math and science after attending my mother’s lectures, going to events like the Maker Faire and the World Science Festival and getting do-it-yourself electronics kits for my birthday. Now, I am a computer science major taking a few engineering courses. I am also mentoring a local FIRST robotics team. I love the culture and emphasis on gracious professionalism instilled through the FIRST program.
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