ALL RIGHT, IT'S 35 TEAMS, 6 WEEKS OF PREPARATION,
AND ALMOST $10 MILLION IN SCHOLARSHIP WINNINGS.
IT'S THE FIFTH ANNUAL FIRST PURDUE ROBOTICS COMPETITION.
LET THE GAMES BEGIN!
CHEERS AND APPLAUSE LET'S ALL GO NUTS!
WE'RE HERE WITH DAN SOMERVILLE, OUTREACH COORDINATOR
FOR THE COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, AND HE IS HERE
AT THE ROBOTICS COMPETITION NOW.
WE SAID THE FIFTH ANNUAL FIRST BOILERMAKER
ROBOTICS COMPETITION.
WHAT'S FIRST?
WHAT IS THAT?
FIRST STANDS FOR INSPIRATION AND RECOGNITION
OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY.
IT'S A NATIONAL ORGANIZATION.
AND HERE AT PURDUE, WE SPONSOR AND MENTOR AREA TEAMS, K-12,
IN ROBOTICS TO GET THE KIDS INTERESTED IN SCIENCE,
TECHNOLOGY, AND PURSUING CAREERS IN THOSE FIELDS.
DAN, WHY PURDUE?
WHY PURDUE?
BECAUSE PURDUE FOCUSES ON ENGINEERING,
WE FOCUS ON OUTREACH, AND WE FOCUS ON GETTING KIDS ENGAGED
IN SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATH.
WELL, THIS YEAR'S THEME IS LUNACY,
IN HONOR OF THE 40th ANNIVERSARY
OF NEIL ARMSTRONG LANDING ON THE MOON.
SO WE'VE GOT THESE MOON ROCKS, WHICH ARE PART OF THE GAME.
HERE WE GO.
AND THESE ARE 2-POINT BALLS THAT WE SCORE INTO THE GOALS.
RED ROBOTS ARE SCORING THEM IN THE BLUE GOALS.
BLUE ROBOTS ARE SCORING THEM INTO THE RED GOALS.
ALL RIGHT, A LOT OF CHARACTERS HERE.
I JUST CAUGHT UP WITH A COUPLE OF GUYS -- NICK AND CHRIS.
I'M LOVING THE HAIR, NICK.
THANK YOU.
I'M ABSOLUTELY LOVING IT.
TELL ME ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCE HERE
AT THE ROBOTICS COMPETITION.
WHAT IS THIS DOING FOR YOU?
WELL, THIS PREPARES US -- WE'VE BEEN WORKING REALLY HARD
FOR SIX WEEKS, YOU KNOW, BUILDING, DESIGNING.
WE COME HERE.
THERE'S SO MANY TEAMS.
WE'RE WORKING TOGETHER,
AND EVERYTHING IS A REALLY GREAT EXPERIENCE.
LEARN A LOT.
AND IS PURDUE KIND OF LOOKING INTO YOUR FUTURE AS FAR
AS UNIVERSITY OR COLLEGE GOES?
YEAH, I'D LOVE TO GO TO PURDUE.
IT'S ALWAYS BEEN ONE
OF MY SCHOOLS I'VE BEEN THINKING ABOUT.
I WANT TO BE AN ENGINEER WHEN I GROW UP, SO IT'S PERFECT FOR ME.
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE HERE,
THE ANTICIPATION, THE ENERGY, THE WHOLE EXPERIENCE
IN THE SIX WEEKS OF PREPARATION?
YEAH, WHEN YOU SPEND SIX WEEKS SWEATING
AND BUILDING YOUR ROBOT, I MEAN, IF IT DOESN'T GET DONE,
WE JUST STAY ALL NIGHT AND DO WHAT IT TAKES.
SO, IT'S REALLY EXCITING TO SEE OUR HARD WORK OUT ON THE FLOOR.
TELL ME ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCE.
WHY ARE YOU HERE?
I LOVE ENGINEERING, AND HOW GREAT IT FEELS TO BE
ON A TEAM, DOING SOMETHING.
I WAS IN HIGH SCHOOL ON A TEAM, AND I WAS A MENTOR IN COLLEGE,
AND NOW I'M THE DIRECTOR OF ONE OF THE TEAMS,
SO THAT'S A REALLY GOOD EXPERIENCE FOR ME.
AND AS MUCH AS I LEARNED IN HIGH SCHOOL, JUST FROM EVERYTHING,
I THINK I'VE LEARNED AT LEAST TWICE AS MUCH NOW THAT I'M
IN COLLEGE, INTERACTING WITH PEOPLE
AND LEARNING THE TECHNICAL SKILLS AND HOW TO RELATE.
AND HOW ABOUT THESE KIDS?
WHAT ARE YOU TEACHING THEM?
I'M TEACHING THEM LIFE SKILLS.
LIKE, OBVIOUSLY, THERE'S SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY INVOLVED,
BUT ALSO, THERE'S A LOT OF, LIKE, HOW TO INTERACT AND HOW
TO GET THINGS DONE AND HOW TO PERSUADE PEOPLE TO WORK WITH YOU
SO YOU GET THINGS DONE.
ALL RIGHT, AFTER SEEING THE CHARACTERS TODAY
AND THE EVENTS UNFOLD, WE CAN SAFELY SAY
THAT FIRST TRULY DOES INSPIRE
AND RECOGNIZE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY.
NOW, FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO BE A PART OF THIS GREAT,
GREAT PROGRAM, VISIT usfirst.org.
NOW, FOR "BOILER BYTES," I'M TOMMY BEARDMORE.
I'VE SHOWN YOU ENOUGH HERE, AND IT'S NOW TIME
TO DO SOMETHING A LITTLE MORE IMPORTANT.
