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Girls of Steel Robotics
Newsletter
Volume 12 #3
2023-2024
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Our Mission
"Girls of Steel empowers everyone, especially women and girls,
to believe they are capable of success in STEM."
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Welcome to the
Girls of Steel Robotics program !
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So much has happened since FRC Crescendo kickoff on January 6, 2024! We hosted several local teams (FRC 4467, 4991, 8705, 9475) for the day at Carnegie Mellon University for viewing the official FIRST kickoff event together and for brainstorming strategies for this year's game. Since kickoff weekend our build season meetings have been on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays with some extra meetings scheduled as needed. Check out our Facebook and Instagram for more photos!
We were so excited to host thirteen teams at our FRC practice field on Saturday, February 17th for the annual Week Zero event. Our Greater Pittsburgh area teams were joined by teams from Ohio, West Virginia, State College, and Erie! We all had a great time practicing and testing our robots before 2024 competitions begin at the Week 1 event at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh coming up soon on February 29th. We can do it!
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Community Outreach Highlights | |
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Groundbreaking at RIC in Hazelwood
December 15, 2023
We were invited to showcase our robot at the groundbreaking event at CMU’s new Robotics Innovation Center (RIC) at the Hazelwood Green/Mill 19 complex. The RIC is due to open in 2025.
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FRC Warm-Up Speakers
January 3, 2024
This virtual event was a roundtable discussion in which people on FRC teams around the world joined to hear us and members of 1868 and 1902 talk about "Being a Girl in FIRST."
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Presenting at 2024 TRETC
January 15, 2024
Our TRETC presentation described our engaging outreach curriculum, hopefully for teachers to take back as inspiration of how to integrate STEM into their classrooms. We co-presented with another FRC team, GaCo, to provide multiple options and approaches to STEM inside a classroom. Plus we shared our most updated patent pending BuzzBand device at the Student Showcase demo.
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Outreach at Cooper-Siegel Library
January 29, 2024
Our chassis project and LEGO windmill kits were presented at the Cooper Siegel Library. We collaborated with the Fox Chapel Area High School STEM Club to expose students to robotics. Thirty kids aged 6-9 participated our activities and learned about future FLL opportunities.
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FIRST teams apply here to be a 2023-2024 FIRST Ladies Regional Partner. Learn more about being a partner here.
Girls of Steel will have a new home!
Read all about our soon-to-be new home at Carnegie Mellon's Robotics Innovation Center in Pittsburgh's Hazelwood neighborhood.
We are thrilled to share that the Sadeh family - Norman (SCS alum and professor), Patricia, Maite and Rachel - recently made a terrific gift to establish the Sadeh Family Girls of Steel Endowed Fund. Daughters Maite and Rachel are Girls of Steel alumni. Rachel was with us through high school and a team co-captain. Because the fund is endowed, it will live in perpetuity, supporting Girls of Steel for generations to come. We're incredibly grateful for their generosity!
We would like to thank the PPG Foundation for their generous continued support of our program. It will help us continue our outreach objectives and education for girls in STEM! We are so lucky to have sponsors that commit to the GoS mission.
Check out the Girls of Steel Blog
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FIRST Tech Challenge Teams are getting ready to compete in two 2024 qualifiers | There are 12 girls on our two FTC teams, 9820 Girls of steel Hypatia and 9981 Girls of Steel Lovelace. All students are rookies in 7th or 8th grade. They went from little or no previous knowledge about robotics and have all contributed to building chassis, wiring motors, adding electronics, or writing code. They also are working on presentations for judges and creating a portfolio of their work to present at their upcoming back-to-back qualifying Center Stage competitions on February 24th and 25th. | |
February: Black History Month | |
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We are honoring Katherine Johnson (1918-2020), mathematician and NASA scientist from 1953 to 1986. "When asked to name her greatest contribution to space exploration, Johnson would talk about the calculations that helped synch Project Apollo’s Lunar Module with the lunar-orbiting Command and Service Module. She also worked on the Space Shuttle and the Earth Resources Technology Satellite (ERTS, later renamed Landsat) and authored or coauthored 26 research reports. “I loved going to work every single day,” she said. In 2015, at age 97, Johnson added another extraordinary achievement to her long list: President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian honor. | | | |
Read About Women and Girls in STEM | | |
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We always have additional expenses related to building the robot for competition, attending competitions, and running our extensive outreach program. Please consider making a donation online here to help our teams achieve success in STEM.
"I can safely say that Girls of Steel has not only had a gigantic impact on my life, but it has also fostered a love for technology and innovation within me."
Thank you!
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Girls of Steel does not discriminate in admission, participation, employment, or administration of its programs or activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, handicap or disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, creed, ancestry, belief, veteran status, or genetic information. Furthermore, as a part of Carnegie Mellon University, Girls of Steel does not discriminate and is required not to discriminate in violation of federal, state, or local laws or executive orders. Fee waivers are available for all Girls of Steel Robotics programs. | |
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“Believe in yourself, learn, and never stop wanting to build a better world.”
-Mary McLeod Bethune
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Copyright © 2024. All Rights Reserved. | | | | |
