Dos Pueblos High School's Engineering Academy Robotics Team is Victorious at the Los Angeles FIRST Regionals and now Prepares for the mid- April Global Showdown in Atlanta

Source: Barbara Keyani, School District Special Projects and Communication

Known as Robotics Team 1717, on March 22, 2008, the 32-student Dos Pueblos High School Robotics Team won the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition regional challenge in Los Angeles. Typically, the regionals are held in large arenas and involve 40-70 teams. Team 1717's win is on the heels of its win two weeks prior at the San Diego regional challenge, putting the team in the rare position of winning two back-to-back regionals. The next step is the international championship in Atlanta, Georgia, on April 17-19, 2008, where Team 1717 will compete among the best of the best. The teams will be judged on design, technology, sportsmanship, and commitment to FIRST.

We are really excited that within three years, which is a very short timeframe in a program such as this, we have been able to take the program to heights that we could not have originally imagined. I am very proud of our students as this is a reflection of their efforts and hard work. This experience is not about the awards, it is about the process of design, creation, and fueling a love of engineering and science that our students come away with, said academy director Amir Abo-Shaeer.

The star of the team is a lean, mean 150-lb. robot, constructed by the students during a six-week build session. The competition involves a common set of game rules that are a surprise every year. This year, the robot had to have the ability to remove 40-inch diameter balls from a 6 1/2-foot tall overpass, drive along a prescribed path, and maneuver the balls into position with each pass under or over the underpass on each lap. No small feat.

The official group name is Robotics Team 1717 because it was the 1,717th FIRST team to register when the Academy was originally established. Unofficially, the team's fun name has been the D'Penguineers. It was derived from DP Engineers and morphed into D'Penguineers. The image is reinforced during the annual design phase when students add white accents to the team's black robot.

Robotics competition is an exciting challenge, as reflected in the words of Dos Pueblos student Erika Eskenazi, who worked on systems engineering, The atmosphere has such a positive spirit and all of the teams unite and work together to push forward the concept that engineering is fun and a cutting edge field to be part of.

This year's team members are: Alex Adams, Meha Agrawal, Daniel Barrett, Erika Bildsten, Will Campbell, Kevin Cheng, Scott Cook, Kieran Dunne, Sahar El Abbadi, Erika Eskenazi, Omar Gonzalez, Val Harbunou, Ricky Hayes, Jasper Jacobs, Wei Jiang, Trevor Johnson, Robert Kim, Matt Logan, Stephen MacFarlane, Scott Martinis, Joseph McDaniel, Zak McFarland, James McKinny, Michael Reveles, Sam Ridgeway, JR Riggs, Nico Ruvalcaba, Natalie Schauser, Melody Tan, Daniel Turvey, Wei Wu, Xuyang Zhang.

The Dos Pueblos High School Engineering Academy was launched in 2002. The Academy's four-year integrated course of study offers classes in physics, computer science, and engineering design. The hands-on curriculum culminates in the construction of a robot during the senior year. Every senior has a specific role during the six-week build session where the combination of academics and technical innovation gives students the competitive edge and mastery of the skills necessary to enter the workforce and pursue post-secondary education.

This year, the program received invaluable support from Santa Barbara County Education Office Regional Occupational Program (ROP). FIRST Robotics Design, Programming, and Manufacturing is now offered through ROP. ROP takes pride in offering new and emerging career technical educational pathway courses as the opportunity arises in our local high schools, stated Marilyn Lake, ROP coordinator.

Article from Santa Barbara School District.

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