[Yaaarc] Engineering and Technology

[Keith Mc. (Route-To YAR)]

"George Albercook" <albercook at gmail.com> wrote:
> [...] I have some students that are interested in
> engineering and I want to set up a series of site visits in the Ann Arbor
> Detroit area. The idea is to excite and inform the students (middle and high
> school) engineering careers.
> [...]
> Do any of you know a great location to visit. It could be a plant tour, a
> lab tour or an office visit but it needs to have some "coolness."

They should definitely attend a FIRST regional!  They're FREE to visit!

There are two coming up:
1) Mar 13-15, 2008 - The Detroit Regional, Wayne State Univ, Detroit.
2) Mar 27-29, 2008 - The Great Lakes Regional, EMU, Ypsilanti.
See:  http://www.usfirst.org/community/frc/regionalevents.aspx?id=430
There are site info and schedule links on the page for every regional.

FYI - Regionals run Thursday through Saturday.

Thursday is just a practice and work day.  Not very exciting.
Friday (all day) and Sat AM are the qualifying matches.
Sat afternoon has the Elimination Tournament, where the top bots
(and their partners) battle it out for the winner's trophy.

Saturday is a short day, with a big lunch hour.  So for YOUNG kids 
I recommend going on Saturday.  BE THERE by 9 AM though, or you'll 
miss a lot!  Bring a lunch to eat out in the van/bus.  (Typical arena 
event... huge prices, and outside food is "technically banned".)
Things wrap up by about 3-5 PM.  The second teams get eliminated
they start packing up their robot and tearing down, so pit tours
are best done in the AM.

For older students (with greater attention span), I highly recommend 
schools take a "Science Field Trip" day on Friday.  You see a LOT more 
bots in action. (...and, those that DO like it can always come back 
on Saturday to see the finals. :-)  Things start at 9AM, and run to
about 5.  The Pits close about 6.  Pit tours are better, as teams
are running all day.

Either way, if you want to see the pit area be sure to bring
safety glasses for all attendees.  (SOMETIMES there are loaners,
but if you have a big group it's often insufficient.  FYI, most 
Dollar stores carry safety glasses...)  Adults might want to bring
foam earplugs too.  The arena often ramps up to rock concert noise 
level with the excitement.

- Keith Mc.