Equipment World Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/185325
reporter | by Equipment World staff FIRST Competition trains tomorrow's engineers W hat do you do with kids who think math and science are boring? Give them a pile of parts, some software and computers, and let them build a robot. That in a nutshell is the FIRST Competition, a nationwide program to fire up the imaginations of kids and advance the learning of math, science and engineering in our schools. And these are no ordinary robots. Kids as young as six years old start with a Lego robotics program and build a computer controlled robot that prowls a 4-foot by 8-foot field performing up to 18 tasks, says Tim Grewe, General Motors Electrification chief engineer and director of the FIRST program at GM. "As the kids move up to the high school lev- Building robots shows kids the fun side of science and math. el," Grewe says, "the robots get a lot stronger As for adults, anybody who wants to can get inand a lot bigger – 120 pounds – and they do different volved with the league, Grewe says. All the training tasks and compete against other teams." materials are online and free, and National Instruments This year, for example, the top level robots were puts on weekend seminars to help prepare adults to required to pick up Frisbees, sort them and hit targets coach their student teams. as far away as 60 feet. Follow up studies have tracked the progress of The FIRST Competition is supported by a wide students who go through the program and show that range of companies including 3M, Boeing, Rockwell 90 percent of them go on to college. What's more Automation, Microsoft, FedX, Motorola and others. The participating students are more than twice as likely to 2012-2013 FIRST season attracted more than 300,000 go into a science or technology career. youth and 120,000 mentors, coaches and volunteers There are three levels to the program: the Junior from some 70 countries. FIRST Lego League (ages 6 to 9), the FIRST Lego — continued on next page BOMAG exits Kewanee plant, plans new facility in southern U.S. BOMAG Americas says it will cease manufacturing operations in Kewanee, Illinois, by the end of 2014 and relocate its business in a yet-to-be-determined location in the southern United States. BOMAG says its Kewanee-produced products – single drum rollers, asphalt rollers, and a reclaimer/stabilizer – will either be relocated to the new plant or be replaced with "market-accepted products manufactured in BOMAG facilities in Oklahoma, Germany or China." In addition, the company will enter into a long-term lease with Terex for the Oklahoma facility, where the company produces asphalt pavers, material transfer vehicles and reclaimers/stabilizers. BOMAG bought these products from Terex earlier this year and announced plans to keep the CMI and Cedarapids brand names. The planned new facility will include a parts distribution center, training center, product assembly for U.S.-specific machine features and corporate offices. "The North American market is the largest market in the world and is strategic to our company's long-term success," says Joerg Unger, president, BOMAG Worldwide. EquipmentWorld.com | October 2013 9 EW1013_Reporter.indd 9 9/24/13 1:46 PM