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ORTOP Newsletter
February 2017
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In this issue: ORTOP News | ORTOP Spotlights | Internet News
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FIRST® LEGO® League State Championship re-scheduled
As a result of the winter snow-ice storm that occurred on Wednesday, January 11,
and the subsequent freezing temperatures, the FIRST LEGO League State Championship, to be held at Liberty High School in Hillsboro,
on January 14-15, has been re-scheduled to March 4 and 5, at
Glencoe High School in Hillsboro.
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Volunteers Needed!
We are currently in the midst of robotics season and have a pressing need for volunteers. Even if you have little or no knowledge of robotics or of a specific program, you can be of help.
Upcoming events:
FIRST®
Tech Challenge:
Super Qualifier Tournaments -
Poynter Middle School, Hillsboro; February 11 and 12
South Meadows Middle School, Hillsboro; February 11 and 12
State Championship -
Benson Polytechnical High School, Portland, February 25 and 26
FIRST®
LEGO
®
League State Championship
Glencoe High School, Hillsboro; March 4 and 5
FIRST®
Robotics Competition:
Wilsonville District Tournament; Wilsonville High School, March 9-11
CAIS District Tournament, Jackson Campus, Oregon City, March 23-25
Lake Oswego District Tournament, Lake Oswego High School, March 30-April 1
How to sign up to volunteer:
Select "Apply for an Event".
Select a program.
Select a state: "Oregon"
Search event by Name or Search event by Start Date/End Date: enter event or date.
Select an event.
Apply for Role(s), e.g., "Assign Me As Needed".
Repeat the process to apply for additional events.
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A message from ORTOP's Executive Director
Hello ORTOP supporters and FIRST Fans,
The past month has been quite a challenge! Unprecedented snow and extreme weather has had a major impact on the FIRST® season throughout the state. We had to cancel several FIRST Tech Challenge league events, but have reorganized the structure of qualifiers so the impact was minimal. Many FIRST Robotics Competition teams have been struggling to keep on schedule, as the worst of the weather came right after the Steamworks Kickoff on January 7. And most significantly, we had to make the decision to postpone the Intel Oregon FIRST LEGO® League State Championship. Our staff has been working tirelessly to reschedule, and I'm happy to say we're managed to re-schedule the event to March 4 and 5, at Glencoe High School in Hillsboro.
Without a doubt, this season has kept all of us on our toes. But, engineers and scientists face unexpected challenges all the time. Deadlines get moved, criteria change, and constraints tighten. You work with what you've got, and just keep going. Take the opportunity to flex those problem solving muscles a bit more this year, and know that success will feel even better knowing that you overcame the unexpected in 2017. Best of luck to all the teams who will be competing in February and March, I look forward to seeing all your hard work on display.
David Perry, ORTOP Executive Director
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Girl's Workshop Dinner - Autodesk
Several girls and their parents attended a dinner hosted by Autodesk to kickoff Autodesk’s Girl's Workshop Series on Friday, January 6. Autodesk is partnering with OMSI and Chick Tech to provide computer programming training to up to 28
FIRST
Robotics Competition
and FIRST Tech Challenge girls
. After Jason Karls directed ice breaker activities, Patti Vorbel related her history with technology and experience at Autodesk.
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FIRST® Robotics Competition Kick-off January 7
Pictured - Marshall Stowell of Lam Research in proper attire for the STEAMWORKS kickoff at the University of Portland.
2017 FIRST Robotics Competition STEAMWORKS game animation.
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Autodesk’s Jason Karls on FIRST®
ORTOP asked Jason Karls, Autodesk Principal User Experience Designer, several questions about Autodesk participation in FIRST programs.
Read more
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First Tech Federal Credit Union volunteers lend a hand
Despite terrible weather/road conditions, several FTFCU employees spent Monday, 16 January, at ORTOP's office helping prepare materials for
FIRST® Tech Challenge league and non-league championships.
Thanks First Tech Federal.
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FIRST® Tech Challenge tournaments
Despite some weather challenges, the first weekend of league and non-league qualifying tournaments, January 21-22, was a resounding success. The biggest issue was having to shift the Hood River league qualifying tournament from Saturday to Sunday and shifting teams scheduled for Sunday to other dates/venues. Tournaments were also held on January 28 and 29, In Portland, Salem, and Corvallis.
Now it's on to the
Super Qualifier Tournaments in Hillsboro, February 11 and 12.
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More FIRST
®
alumni
ORTOP is continuing an effort to contact former team members - where are they today and the impact that
FIRST robotics programs has had on their lives.
Read about the experiences and thoughts of two former
FIRST LEGO
® League students:
David Handy and Gauri Kambhatla.
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Robot Art competition
The 2017 second annual robotic art competition with $100,000 in cash prizes is
now open
for team registration. An international competition for all ages, the contest’s goal is to challenge teams to produce something visually beautiful with robotics—that is, to have a robot use physical brushes and paint to create an artwork.
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An interview with Emma Barbee - Dean's List Finalist, 2015-2016
Emma is a senior at Tigard High School and a member of the FIRST Tech Challenge team #3058, The Jury Riggers. She was an Dean's List Finalist (2015-2016 season) based on her work to bring young women into FIRST.
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Your company can benefit by partnering with us!
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Waterbotics
Underwater robotics - an environment that presents unique, complex design challenges (e.g., buoyancy, control in 3-D); exposes individuals to the concepts of propulsion, drag, buoyancy and stability, gearing, torque, speed, and thrust.
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Artificial Intelligence and robotics
Artificial intelligence
(AI) is arguably the most exciting field in robotics. It's certainly the most controversial: Everybody agrees that a robot can work in an assembly line, but there's no consensus on whether a robot can ever be intelligent.
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Drone AI based on bee brains
Artificial intelligence aficionados such as Singularity-chasing Ray Kurzweil might be working on fusing together man and machine, but scientists in the UK have started on a smaller scale, with the goal of meshing together bee and drone.
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Calendar
FIRST®
Tech Challenge
Super Qualifiers
FIRST
Tech Challenge
Championship
FIRST®
LEGO
®
League State Championship
FIRST
Robotics Competition District Tournaments
FIRST LEGO League Jr OMSI Expos
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FIRST
Robotics Competition
Pacific Northwest District Championship
FIRST
World Championship
May
FIRST LEGO League Jr Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum and Columbia Gorge
March - June
FIRST
LEGO League
Junior Expos
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How you can become involved
At a tournament
At an outreach event
Become the one to open the door and inspire young minds to be involved in STEM
Help fund these amazing programs
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Seeking articles
- H
elp m
ake FIRST® Loud!
If you have a story or information that you feel would be of interest our readers, consider submitting it. For more information, see
writer’s guidelines.
The newsletter is published the first week of each month.
Allyn Vannoy, Editor
Terry Hamm, Assistant Editor
Williane Tenca, Assistant Editor
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ORTOP Office phone number: 503-486-7622
Executive Director: David Perry
FLL Program Manager: Loridee Wetzel
FTC Program Manager: Cathy Swider
FRC Senior Mentor: Debbie Kerr
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