Corey Oostveen plans to start a company in the metro Grand Rapids area that someday will develop prosthetics for the disabled and robotic products for use in everyday life -- just the sort of industry that Michigan needs to retool itself in the 21st century.
“With all the emphasis on the (health care industry) here, I want to jump on that boat if I can,” says Oostveen, a freshman at
Grand Valley State University who over the past few weeks helped build a 150-pound robot that collects and lobs braided plastic balls the size of a basketball into moving targets.
While he concedes his robotics venture is still a few years away, Oostveen says he is honing his business skills -- everything from sales to construction of a prototype -- through a program supported by West Michigan companies that inspires people with the message that manufacturing has a future here.
Their FIRST Start
Called
FIRST Robotics, the program involves more than 1,600 teams of high school students and 85,000 volunteers from around the world who build robots in a scant six-week period that compete at performing complex tasks. A two-year veteran of the program, Oostveen is now serving a mentor to the team from
Grand River Preparatory High School in Grandville as it prepares for local competition to be held March 27-28 at the Allendale campus of GVSU.
“If FIRST Robotics can inspire and motivate young people toward engineering, that’s very good for manufacturing in the long run,” says Mary Gill-Thornton, co-CEO of
Gill Industries Inc. in Grand Rapids. “There is a shortage of engineers coming up and since we compete globally, it’s even more important. This program involves problem solving, teamwork and creativity and those are critical skills for companies today.”
Gill Industries, a precision-engineered assemblies manufacturer, has been a financial sponsor of a
FIRST team at Creston High School for six years. Despite a difficult business climate, the company believes the FIRST competition is worth every penny it contributes.
FIRST - For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology – involves much more than just building robots.
In an almost year around effort, high school students learn what it takes to earn corporate sponsorships and scholarships, marketing techniques, fund raising, public relations and effective communication, people skills, Web design and computer usage, deadline crunches and team building.
“The kids come with the concepts and do the brainstorming, and then the mentors come in with the reality of the whole process,” says Bob Rozendal, head of the science department at Creston High School and coordinator of the school's FIRST program that this year involves 26 students. www.creston904.com. “I’ve never seen any program at this school with a bigger impact on a student’s academic goals than FIRST.”
Not Just EngineeringRozendal says the FIRST program isn’t just about engineering, but also emphasizes necessary business skills and the impact it will have on future goals. Partnerships with mentors from General Motors Corp. and other area businesses have been invaluable for the students.
The extracurricular activity creates dozens of educational opportunities, strengthens community ties and prepares students for entry into the real world of business, according to sponsors. And similar to a sporting event, the competition is just plain fun.
“It is very exciting to watch, and very addictive,” says Oostveen, who altered his career plans after participating in
FIRST at Grandville High School. Always interested in engineering, his stand-out leadership work on the team resulted in an internship last summer and fall at All Tech Engineering in Wyoming.
“It’s astronomical what FIRST can do for a student because a lot of companies know about the program,” says Oostveen, who is coaching a team that fields students from six Grand Rapids area schools. “It’s such a good experience for kids to learn Web design, marketing, financial matters and how to work as a team.”
Because of the important skills he learned, Oostveen decided he would focus on a career in business administration, rather than engineering. “We had engineers and other mentors to teach us different things and it gave me a good look at what I really wanted to do,” Oostveen says. “I love engineering, but I’m more an engineer of people.”
Right now, he’s busy working with his team and getting ready to tweak and test the robot they’ll “drive” by remote control in next week’s event.
Lunacy 2009
The FIRST competition this year is dubbed "Lunacy 2009" to recognize the 40th anniversary of men landing on the moon, so robots must launch "moon rocks" into trailers while moving on a slippery polymer surface that mimics lunar gravity where every stop or sharp turn creates an uncontrollable skid.
Free and open to the public,
West Michigan FIRST Robotics District Competition at GVSU, includes over 1,000 students comprising 39 teams. It is one of seven district events being held throughout Michigan, from which 64 qualifying teams will move on to state competition at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, April 2-4.
The teams have to design a robot from 150 pounds of parts made up of motors, batteries, a control system and a mix of automation components, but no instructions. That’s where the creativity and ingenuity comes in for students to create a robot no more than five feet high and capable of executing a competitive game developed by a committee of professionals led by Dean Kamen, who founded FIRST in 1989.
A Lasting ImpressionAccording to FIRST, participants are 50 percent more likely to attend college, twice as likely to major in science or engineering and four times more likely to anticipate a career in engineering, compared to students with similar backgrounds in high school math and science.
“One of our (Creston) students is in his third year of engineering at Michigan Tech, (Michigan Technological University in Houghton) and he’s now a mentor for a robotics team up there,” says Bill Paumier, a retired engineer from Smith Industries, who in 2001, helped establish the robotics team at Creston and continues to serve as a mentor. “Engineering is a tough profession and this program gives students the inspiration to go to engineering school.”
Kara Chatterson, 16, intends to do just that. She has been on the Creston team for three years and contributes to the marketing and design efforts.
“I also like working with the ‘bots and you get to meet a lot of people every year who will help you with future plans,” she adds. “I’m going into the engineering field after graduation, but I’m not sure what (area).”
Her team mate, Rebecca O’Leary, 18, has been in the program four years and finds the competition exciting. O’Leary has participated in several aspects of FIRST and plans to use the skills she’s learned in team building and robotics to her advantage when she joins the National Guard after high school graduation.
A common misconception is that only students in math and science classes are involved in FIRST, says Amy Hoppe, part of the planning committee for the district and state competitions. Hoppe works in human resources for Wolverine Building Group in Kentwood, which has been a FIRST sponsor in the past.
Even art class students are excited and eager to join in order to design team logos and promotional material. Others, like Ben Abraham, a junior at Forest Hills Central, has been a member of the Creston team for two years simply because he likes robotics.
“It’s a lot of fun, but it also introduces you to the whole concept of business relationships,” Abraham says. “We build a team and work with many people in real world dynamics. There are tons of scholarships and I’m looking for a career in computer programming.”
Marcy VanEvery, chairperson of the 2009 district planning committee, says FIRST many times helps students without any life or career goals, “who now are looking at college and don’t waste as much time in school because they have seen and (participated) in some real life experiences.” Teachers and mentors write letters of recommendations for students involved in FIRST, which has helped open many doors to summer jobs and beyond.
“These kids get the street smarts to know the jobs are out there, but they are getting more technical. This is a great way for them to learn how to find information and take a look at it.”
A veteran journalist formerly of The Grand Rapids Press, Mary Radigan is a freelance writer based in Grand Rapids. She recently wrote for Rapid Growth about the local practice of calligraphy.
Photos:
Creston High School robotics class and their new robot that's ready for competition
Robotics 904
Bob Rozendal
Creston High School's robot
Rebecca O'Leary and Kara Chatterson
Photographs by
Brian Kelly - All Rights Reseved
Brian Kelly is a commercial photographer, filmmaker and Rapid Growth's managing photographer. You can follow his photography adventures
here on his blog as well as on
Twitter.