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MIDNIGHT MECHANICS TEAM 812

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EXTRA MILE

ANNUAL REPORT 2007


THE EXTRA MILE
ANNUAL REPORT 2006
MIDNIGHT MECHANICS TEAM 812

TABLE OF CONTENTS

03 Team History

07 Our Students

09 Our Mentors

11 Team Demographics

12 Team Accomplishments

13 Impact On Students

14 The Preuss School

16 Our Robot

20 Our Sponsors

22 FIRST Lego League

26 FIRST VEX Robotics

27 Community Outreach
Team History
2001 Season:
Team 812, the Midnight Me-
chanics, began at the Preuss School UCSD as
2002 Season:
Team 812 returned in their
sophomore season in an attempt to further
the first San Diego FIRST team. Supported spread the message of FIRST and recruit more
by the University of California San Diego, the teams in the San Diego community. The team
Preuss Foundation, and the NASA Jet Propul- successfully bridged a partnership with San
sion Laboratory, Team 812 commenced upon Diego Community College. Through SDCC,
its endeavor as a first year team in the rigor- they began to deliver presentations to local San
ous FIRST environment. As a beginning team, Diego high school administrators and educa-
the group faced many challenges along their tors. The team helped start three new FIRST
journey. Without the aid of a machine shop, the teams; 1079, 1125, and 1136.
team had struggled to construct a robot com-
petitive enough to withstand the competition. During this time, Team 812 continued to
Despite the challenges the team had encoun- develop themselves as engineers and program-
tered during that six-week building season, mers. Mentors from the University of Califor-
Team 812 persevered. As a result, the team nia San Diego became a part of the Midnight 3
has built a great rookie robot, “Wah-hee-sah.” Mechanics. The mentors attended the meetings
Though the final standings were low in the Los regularly in order to teach students the knowl-
Angeles Southern California Regional Com- edge and fundamental engineering principles.
petition, Team 812 earned the All-Star Rookie At the Southern California Regional, Team 812
Award. received Daimler-Chrysler Team Spirit Award,

Team 812, the Midnight Mechanics, was the founding


team in San Diego. We started in the fall of 2001 at the
Preuss School. Now, we have grown to include over
twelve sponsors, thirty mentors, and the entire South-
ern California community.
Team 812 was very enthusiastic to kick
off the 2007 FIRST Robotics Competi-
tion: Rack N’ Roll.

“Team 812 has grown from being the child and being with them every step of the way.
of the inner-city, to kids teaching kids, and,
now, you are something beyond what words In partnership with Madison High School
can express.” Robotics, an active member of TSD, Team 812
-- Allison Liewer built a full size playing field. All members of
TSD had access to the playing field in order to
and, at the Arizona Regional, the team was practice and prepare for the regional competi-
received the Judges Award. tion. The Midnight Mechanics had also hosted
the Second Annual San Diego Robotics Exposi-

4 2003 Season:
In 2003, the Midnight Mechan-
ics had to hit the floor running. The team was
tion. At the Robotics Expo, prospecting edu-
cators and high school students in San Diego
County learned about FIRST and watch a live
very busy. With months of planning, Team competition between participating TSD high
812 hosted the first annual FIRST Lego League schools. The San Diego Robotics Exposition
Competition at the Preuss School UCSD. Doz- also solicits and educates possible sponsors.
ens of FLL Teams from around the San Diego
and Los Angeles area were invited to partici- Our performance at the Southern California
pate in the competition. The team also started Regional earned us the Engineering Inspira-
two FLL teams in order to further spread the tion Award. The team went on to compete in
message of FIRST in our school. We also men- the National FIRST Robotics Competition in
tored other FLL teams in San Diego. Atlanta where we received the national Engi-
neering Inspiration Award.
Team 812 founded Team San Diego, a coalition
of all San Diego Robotics Teams. The mission
of TSD is to provide assistance, support, and
communication for all FRC teams in the San
2004 Season:
Upon our return in the fall
of 2004, Team 812 had continued to achieve
Diego area. Team 812 has demonstrated the the same success from the past. The team had
fact that they are the leaders of the San Di- created partnerships with the University of
ego coalition, supplying the San Diego teams California San Diego and Cal[IT]2 (California
with mentors and partnerships. The team had Institute for Telecommunications and Infor-
helped others begin their journeys as a part of mation Technology) to design and implement
FIRST, teaching fundamentals of engineering a college level engineering course, MAE3,
for Preuss School students. The program was still their knowledge and skills into the novices.
designed to introduce students into the field of
engineering and assist them in their develop- Team 812 created the FIRST BUDDY [Building
ment as the future generation of success. Understanding and Determination in Devel-
In addition, Team 812 had successful recruited oping Youth] program. BUDDY is a program
addition teams to join Team San Diego. The in which Team 812 plays in active role in the
coalition developed an organized system in community through educational assistance.
which provided support for novice teams as Our Chairman’s group built partnerships with
well as assistances, such as mentoring, supplies, the Preuss School Saturday Enrichment Acad-
and the necessities for robot building. We con- emy [SEA], the San Diego Boys and Girls Club,
5
tinued to host the Annual San Diego Robotics the San Diego YMCA, the San Diego Beck-
Exposition and the Annual FIRST Lego League worth Library, the San Diego City High School
Competition. SWAP Program, and the Monarch School of
San Diego to provide mathematics and science
Each member of the team had to organize his tutoring and mentoring, technology assistance
or her own community service project. As a re- and support, medical profession education, and
sult, the team had successful piloted over forty good health services.
community outreach events that distributed
the message of FIRST and made the Midnight In addition, the Midnight Mechanics created
Mechanics a force in the San Diego area. Our FIRST STEPS [Students Together for Educa-
students transitioned from being underrepre- tion and Promotion of Science] Program which
sented to renown. At the Southern California built partnerships with the MIT MITES Pro-
Regional, the Midnight Mechanics were recog- gram, the UCSD and UCI COSMOS Program,
nized for all of their hard work and determina- the WPI GEMS/WUNDERS Program, SDSU
tion as the Los Angeles Regional Chairman’s School of Engineering, and the NASA NSBRI
Award winner. to educate the community about scholarship
programs which advocate mathematics and sci-

2005 Season:
With many team members
leaving for college, Team 812 had many rookies
ence. Team 812 holds conferences and events to
promote these programs. The conferences are
designed to teach students the process of appli-
join the team. Veterans worked diligently to in- cation, provide alumni experience, and instill
the message of FIRST. This year the team has made it a point to take
the extra step in spreading the message of
In addition, to continuing our annual exposi- FIRST. In addition to multiple presentations,
tions and FLL competitions, the team endeav- scholarship and tutorial programs, and part-
ored to bridge new relationships with local San nerships with business and political leaders,
Diego businesses and organizations. Team 812 Team 812 has piloted educational outreach on
partnered with the University of California San the international level. Paired with the Interna-
Diego RUBI Project which is an endeavor in tional Humanities Foundation [IHF], team 812
the interactions between children and robots. has adopted a classroom in both Indonesia and
The team continued our partnership with the Kenya, raising money to fund them an educa-
Preuss School UCSD, SPAWAR, Machine Per- tion in the core subjects as well as computer
ception Laboratories at UCSD, General Motors, literacy. The team members advise and com-
the Annenberg Foundation, and the San Diego municate with these kids in hopes of encourag-
County Fair. ing them to become academically eligible to
attend college in the United States.

2006 Season:
The 2006 season has proved
to be Team 812’s most daunting challenge yet.
Going beyond writing letters and sending
regional invitations, Team 812 is working with
Having lost a central mentor figure and many our state representatives to institute FIRST in
6
former team members as well, the team, in every high school in California. They brought
its sixth year of FIRST Robotics, has had to our mission to the attention of US Congress
have built themselves up once again as strong, and placed a statement of our accomplishments
competitive FIRST Robotics team unit. The into the permanent Congressional Record.
students themselves have had to take on stron-
ger leadership roles within the team, and build Team 812 has exceeded beyond what is regular-
themselves as a student-run team. With a large ly expected of a regular FIRST Robotics team.
number of core members readying themselves We have engaged our local, national, and global
to go on to higher education, the team has been community in math, science, and engineering.
making the extra effort to impress upon rookie Our impact can be seen in our community; in
members the knowledge and skill to uphold the the kids we mentor, the companies we work
excellence our team holds to standard. with, and lives we ultimately change.

This year, Team 812 welcomed in


40 veterans and rookie members.

“After all I’ve been through, it makes me


extremely proud to know that I am finally
being able to do something truly meaning
ful with my life”
-- Rose Cao
Making History
“I am just a small-town girl. But FIRST
has helped me become more than I really I have let my life be willingly consumed by my
am, and, overall, more than I ever thought team; it is intoxicating and amazing to see the
that I could be. changes that we made, even if it is only in one
-- Summer Puente life at a time. This experience, being the leader
of the very first, FIRST team in San Diego,
SUMMER PUENTE
and watching the interest grow out of control,
Being the Robotics President for my senior
continues to make me feel the warmest feeling
year, I felt compelled to reach out in more in-
from the bottom of my heart.
novative ways. We also organized new schol-
arships and internships with University of
My goals are to see robotics spread throughout
California, San Diego and the University of San
the country, and throughout the world. Al-
Diego that are available to students who par-
though these goals seem lofty, the program is
ticipate in FIRST Robotics.
truly amazing, and my ultimate wish would be
to continue to be a part of this experience for
The newest project is sponsoring classrooms in
the rest of my life. 7
Indonesia to learn English and to have com-
puter technology. Not only does our team raise
CATALINA SANTOS
funds for competitions, but we are also to raise
When I introduce myself as a foster child, I
funds for students to learn on the other side of
automatically get labeled as a person who will
the world.
not get very far in life. In all of the foster homes
that I have lived in, I never had a role model to
This is why I wanted to be a leader; I knew that
tell me right from wrong. I have been forced to
our team was capable of affecting more than
act twice my age since I turned ten. People do
ourselves, our school, and our communities.
not to realize that I am a self motivated young
I knew that we had the passion and drive to
woman who will have a successful future.
reach out further, to give more kids a chance at
a better life.
I have taken advantage of the opportunities giv-

Mentor Scott Briscoe helps stu- Our students come from every walk of life. Regardless,
dents develop a robot arm for this at the end of the day we all come togather and work
year’s robot. towards a common goal: to show the application of
and math and science.
After the outdoor barbeque, Catalina
Santos is getting her hands dirty making
the robot ramp at an infamous Welding
Weekend.

“I have learned how to have confidence and its drive-by shooting, theft, and violence. My
courage in myself and to ignore the stereo- mother is a single parent and I am a full-time
student at the Preuss School UCSD. Every
types of foster children.”
morning I commute an hour an a half to
--Catalina Santos
school. I am at school for ten hours each day.
en from being a student at the Preuss School, On weekends, I can be found in a classroom
and a new member of the FIRST Robotics building robots or mentoring students. That is
team. I now know what education can accom- my life; the life that I chose to live.
plish and I can, and will, prevail at anything if I
work hard. Although I am a rookie member of Preuss epitomizes my dream to escape from the
8 the FIRST Robotics team, I was entrusted with inner-city. I feel that, through Preuss, I am able
the top leadership position in the San Diego to better myself and potentially be able to pro-
Lego Challenge, the main FIRST Lego League vide for my family; for my mother. I grew up as
event our team hosts every year at our school. a child who was not supposed to succeed or go
With the help of a veteran member, I was in to college because I came from a poor unedu-
charge of twenty other members to make sure cated family. Preuss gives me the knowledge
they did what was needed for the competition and confidence to challenge such prejudices; to
to be the best one we have ever had. rise above expectations.

I have learned how to have confidence and FIRST is a significant part of my educational
courage in myself and to ignore the stereotypes career. It helped me grow so much as an in-
of foster children. I know that I am an excep- dividual. FIRST has not only exposed me to
tion and not the rule. I am Catalina Santos. I math, science, and technology beyond what is
am a model of the successful young woman. offered in the classroom, but gave me the cour-
age to open my eyes and see my world for what
PAUL TRAN it truly is: a world of people in need of a help-
I grew up with my eyes closed. That was what ing hand.
my society told me to do. Coming from a com-
munity held up by ridiculous biases, there was Without reservation, I have opened my eyes
not much that I could do to oppose it. and, regardless of my circumstances, I am not
ashamed of my life.
I reside in City Heights, an area infamous for
Inspiring Inspiration
GEORGE CHEN service hours, and I certainly don’t get any
It may seem weird to say that I am writing this money out of it. I’m here because the program
reflection of sorts while at a basketball game, inspires kids to go beyond what’s expected of
but take that fact as it is. The only reason that them.
I mention this unusual writing spot is to note
that as a robotics mentor, I am far from normal, What is it that makes team 812 so unusual?
and I have the pleasure of mentoring a most These are kids who otherwise wouldn’t have
unusual FIRST team. gone to college. They are minority kids who
will be the first generation of their families to
I’ve been with FIRST for six years now – not go to college. They do countless hours of com-
out of sheer dumb luck, or because I’ve been munity service and have outreach programs ev-
too lazy to get out – but because I believe in erywhere. And while that is all well and good,
FIRST. I’ve been around to see how FIRST it is their self motivation that inspires me. In
excites students about science and technology. my two years as a mentor on the team, I have
I’ve been around to see inner city kids go to never had to tell anyone to get on task or to
Harvard and MIT because of their FIRST in- find something to do. These are students who
willingly take up jobs on their own to help the 9
volvement. I’ve been around to see kids light up
with every success and learn from every loss. team. These are students who will come to me
When people ask me why I’m still involved, my when they’re done and ask for another job, and
answer is simple; FIRST works. I don’t volun- will keep nagging me until I find something for
teer my time because I need the community them to do. And it is always impossible to get

At the Annual FIRST Robotics Kick Dan Rupert, Advisor, displays his brilliant admiration
Off at High Tech High San Diego, for the team by painting his face. In addition, Juliana
Team 812 discusses possible Biersbach, Advisor, explains the new competition to
robot building strategies. student, Melody Nguyen, who was confused by the
ramp component.
Mentor, Scott Briscoe, helps Thien
Nguyen and Summer Punete with the
chassis. Our mentors guide us through-
out the process and building and, in
return, we offer them fresh new ideas to
age old conepts.

“Team 812 were kids who were not sup- I’m proud of what this team has accomplished
posed to change the world. But they did. already; I can only hope that they never stop
They surely did. I am glad to be an Advisor trying to go even further.
to such an amazing team.”
-- Juliana Biersbach

them to clean up on time.

So what is a Human Biology student doing


teaching engineering? I’m involved to tell
10 students that even if engineering isn’t for you,
FIRST can help you reach your academic goals.
Whether or not a student goes into engineer-
ing has become less of an issue for me – if
being a part of the team can help someone find
their passion for a career, that’s all that mat-
ters. This team has a proven track record; all of
its alumni have gone on to four year colleges,
in everything from literature to mechanical
engineering. And while this may not be entirely
attributed to FIRST, the lessons of gracious
professionalism and the real life challenges pre-
sented provide invaluable experience that sets
the team alumni ahead of the curve when they “As a parent, I am proud to have my chil-
leave for college. dren being participants of the FIRST Ro-
botics Program. From my eldest son to my
Someone once said, “FIRST is the only sort youngest daughter, I have seen them grow
of competition I’ve seen where somebody can as individuals, students, and citizens of our
win and the opponents can be genuinely happy nation. I am thankful for the opportunity
for them.” It’s what makes FIRST an unusual to work with such a program and represent
sport to be in and why mentoring it gives me the Preuss PTA in doing do.”
hope for the future in science and technology. -- Mahjabeen Usman
Team Demographics

T
he robotics team is a mix of students Preuss Enrollment San Diego Unified
from every grade level. The involve- by Race, 2002-03 Enrollment by Race,
ment from all students is high and very 2002-03
active. Each student is different and brings
something new and interesting to the table.
With every grade level represented, the learn-
ing levels are different and upperclassmen are
able to mentor and assist the lowerclassmen. In
addition, the team is composed of an ethically
diverse student body. With students represent-
ing various nations from around the world, the Asian African American Filipino
White Latino Pacific Islander
cultural experience for many students is life
changing. Through the club, students are able
to learn more about customs and traditions of PREUSS AP EXAMS
other cultures while gaining first-hand experi- TAKEN, BY SUBJECT
ence in the math and science arena.
US History 11

Team 812 believes that academic achievement Spanish Lit


is the key to a successful future. We endeavor Spanish Lang
to instill math, science, and technology among European His
the youth. Our main target is our peers at the English Lang
Preuss School. Over the past six years, the Pre- Art History
uss FIRST Robotics team has worked to initiate
peer mentorship programs at Preuss in order
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Class of 2002-2003
to assist struggling students. a testimony of our
success if seeing that our peers score, on aver- CALIFORNIA HIGH SCHOOL Statewide
San Diego County
age, higher on the California High School Exit EXIT EXAM PASS RATE* Preuss School
Exam than the entire San Diego School District *Out of one sitting
and the state of California. 100

80

60

40

20

0
ENGLISH MATH
Team Accomplishments
“At the 2004 FIRST National Champi- JUDGES’ STATEMENT 2005
onships, I fell out of my seat when I heard Southern California Regional
Woodie Flowers announced, “and the Na-
tional Engineering Inspiration Award “This team has dedicated thousands of hours to
goes to the Preuss School UCSD!” It was an serving its community and surrounding area. This
includes mentoring multiple successful FIRST
honor for FIRST to recognize us because teams, guiding each from the start, staying with
this award was traditionally given to a them until they develop into sustaining teams
regional Chairman’s Award winner.” on their own. They have supported Lego League
--Christopher Khavarian teams ever since the teams first year of operation
and seems tirless in their efforst to reach out to
TESTIMONIES OF SUCCESS younger kids. With team members from member
demographic groups, this team values and
2002 - All Star Rookie Award promises diversity and involvment in science and
@ Southern California Regional techonology, independent of background. Their
2003 - Daimler-Chrysler Team Spirit Award motivation, contagious in every member of this
@ Southern California Regional team, shows that they have taken every principle
12
2003 - Judges Award of FIRST to their hearts, and can demonstrate
@ Arizona Regional the results in clear and personal ways. This team
2004 - Engineering Inspiration Award continues to grow from their homebase and
@ Southern California Regional beyond. Even their minor setbacks only encourages
2004 - Engineering Inspiration Award them further. Outreach begans at home, but seems
@ National Championship in Atlanta to have no end for them. Each member of this may
2005 - Chairman’s Award have BEEN the child who was not supposed to go
@ Southern California Regional to college, but today, this is THEIR story.”
2006 - Chairman’s Award
@ Southern California Regional JUDGES’ STATEMENT 2006
Southern California Regional

“Over the past six years, the judges have watched


this team grow from one without a machine shop
in its rookie year to the founder of a coalition
Team 812 wins the of local schools two years later to a team with a
Chairman’s Award at mission of educating young children this year. This
the Southern California
Regional in 2006. team’s student presenters spoke enthusiastically of
their mission of changing the educational culture
of the city of San Diego. The Southern California
Regional Chairman’s Award goes to Kids Teaching
Kids, Team 812, the Midnight Mechanics from the
Preuss School UCSD in San Diego.”
Impact on Students

F
or students wanting to be involved with engi- presence and inspiration to younger students.
neering, we offer the Botball, Introduction to Our efforts school-wide include tutoring after
Engineering, and Principles of Engineering school for all levels of math, tutoring for Saturday
classes. As a small school, it is difficult to imple- Enrichment Academy in math and science. Since
ment many elective classes; to offer to have three the members in FIRST are academically successful,
engineering classes demonstrates our large impact we are sought-after tutors for mathematics – rang-
on curriculum at The Preuss School UCSD, as these ing from Calculus to Algebra and Geometry.
were introduced relatively recently. The engineering
classes immerse the students in hands-on, project- The result of these programs is more students
based, learning that FIRST Robotics has inspired. involved at The Preuss School UCSD with math-
These classes use Autodesk Inventor to transform ematics-based activities. Since its conception, these
their innovative ideas into real products. Many of changes have dramatically affected The Preuss
these design projects actually become products that School UCSD and its students. Along with influ-
are made by the students, to provide an insight into encing career decisions, the encouragement and
their ideas and goals. family atmosphere created by the robotics team has
lead to students overcoming their personal ob-
As a grade six through twelve institution, we also stacles. Many are also involved with other science-
extend our influences into the middle school. We related activities on and off campus. The students
have started FIRST Lego League teams, named at The Preuss School UCSD have undoubtedly 13
the Mini Mechanics, whom we mentor. We also been transformed into able-minded individuals;
host the San Diego Lego Challenge which the Mini authorities to change how others perceive math and
Mechanics compete in. The middle school offers an science.
engineering course to expose middle school stu-
dents to apply math and science, as a result of our

The Mini Mechanics shadow vet- FIRST impacts all students at the Preuss School.
eran team members and partici- Students, from the sixth grade to twelfth grade, are
pate in Vex and FLL competitions. exposed to math and science opportunities. These
opportunities, FLL, Vex, Botball, and FIRST, opens new
doors for them.
The Preuss School
“Conceived from the era of Affirmative UCSD research into educational practices looks
Action, Preuss offers high quality educa- at three critical areas: The school year [198 days
tion for kids who would not have otherwise vs. 180 traditionally], school day [396 minutes
been able to make it.” per day vs. an average of 360] and smaller class
size in all grades [25 vs. 34 district-wide]. All
-- Cecil Lytle, UCSD Provost
three are mainstays of the Preuss program;

P
our students log 74,669 instructional minutes
reuss School was established on the each year compared to the State requirement of
UCSD campus in Fall 1999. Preuss is 64,800.
chartered under San Diego Unified
School District. Its mission is to provide an The Preuss educational program is made up
intensive college preparatory curriculum of two components:[1] the quality of our
to low-income student populations and to student learning activities, and [2] the teaching
improve educational practices in grades 6- strategies to support students’ learning. Work
12. If these goals are realized, the school will centers on research, application, and reflection
matriculate students who are competitively on the best practices for teaching.
eligible to enter the University of California or
14 other selective institutions of higher education. From its inception, the Preuss model
The School opened with 150 students in grades included the goal of disseminating to the
6 – 8, and now is fully enrolled with 767 K-12 community what has worked well
students in grades 6 – 12. in improving students’ performance in
curriculum implementation [what students
Preuss 2004/05 demographics are: 59.5% learn], instructional improvement [how
Hispanic, 12.9% African American, 21.7% teachers teach], and staff development
Asian, 6% White. [teaching disadvantaged students]. The
school has recently been awarded a $200,000
Preuss students are selected through a process Dissemination Grant from the State. The school
of application and lottery. Eligibility is based will disseminate to the K-12 community best
on: student is from a low-income family [per practices in three interdependent areas of its
Federal school lunch criteria]; student has no educational program: [1] how the structure
parent or guardian who has graduated from of the school supports students’ learning;
a 4-year college or university; student has the [2] staff development activities; and [3]
academic potential and motivation to benefit research strategies that most effectively serve
from an intensive college preparatory program. disadvantaged students. More specifically, this
funding will enable the propagation of effective
Preuss School is housed in a $14 million dollar teaching strategies; literacy approaches; lessons
facility on the UCSD campus. One hundred aligned to standards; methods of interaction
percent of the design and construction funds among teachers, students, parents, and the
came from community donors. university; and, how assessment informs
our work in curriculum and instruction for
EDUCATIONAL MODEL
It was not that long ago when the Preuss
School emerged out of the side of Marshall Col-
lege on the campus of UCSD. Now, years later,
with an amazing campus of its own, the Preuss
School is a proud home to 773 students.

disadvantaged students. AP class.

PERFORMANCE INDICATORS The Preuss School’s recent academic


All Preuss students are involved in a serious performance index score of 845 places it as a
college going culture as evidenced by taking the top scoring high school in San Diego County.
most challenging classes that complete the A-G
requirements for entrance into the University In May 2003, 596 AP tests were administered
of California or any prestigious 4 year college to 284 students. Of those students 57% of the
or university. The following chart indicates 11th graders passed with a score of three or
that Preuss students are fulfilling the mission better, and 47% of the 10th graders passed with
of closing the achievement gap in San Diego a score of three or better and 32% of the 12th
County by exposing all of our low-income graders passed with a score of three or better. 15
students to this challenging environment:
Preuss is considered a high performing
Preuss “A-G” San Diego Unified Statewide school on the State’s Academic Performance
100% 38.5% 35.6% Index [API] [i.e., over the last 5 years Preuss
has averaged 826 out of a possible 1000
In 2003 Preuss Students outperformed all high points]. Preuss compares favorably to other
schools in San Diego County on the High SDUSD high performing middle and high
School Exit exam in Language Arts. Of the schools. Additionally, Preuss’ success can be
students in the class of 2006 98% passed the seen in the increasing collaboration among
language section and 97% passed the math school stakeholder groups in supporting and
section. delivering the educational program, and in the
student support systems.
Preuss Students have an overall attendance
record of 98% which is higher than any middle “Students at the Preuss School are testa-
or high school in the San Diego Unified
ments that underserved, underrepresented,
School District [District average attendance is
approximately 93%].
and underprivledged youth have the po-
tential to succeed; regardless of what their
The Preuss School has a high percentage of community accepts as true. Helping our
Advanced Placement [AP] scholars, and many students do just that, is the mission of the
more have achieved AP status – every student Preuss School.”
from grades 10-12 has completed at least one -- Doris Alvarez Ph.D, Principal
Robot: Arm
OFFICER: TRANG DINH

T
At the end of our match, our robot will park itself
he goal of the arm is to latch onto game on our end of the playing field. It will deploy
pieces and place them on the bottom its ramp, which is structured like a “tent”. Also,
tier of the Rack. There is a mobile and a gravity and the aid of a small arm will cause our
stationary gripper on the arm. When the grip- platform to fall out, creating a “double-ramp”.
pers are close, they are placed on the inside of a
gamepiece, then it opens up to the diameter of This component of the robot will score a plethora
the “donut-hole” to grab the gamepiece. of points at the end of the match. With the capac-
ity of lift other robots twelve inches off of the
The arm is powered with a DC motor on which ground, our team is anticipating towards being a
a sprocket was attached. Chains run from the crucial aspect to future alliances.
sprocket to move a large gear. A bar attached to
the gear is also attached to the mobile gripper. The ramp consists of metal parts welded together
The frame of the arm consists of two parallel hol- to form a frame-like structure. The frame sup-
low metal with a slit cut down the middle where ports an inner support layer that is mainly com-
the grippers are placed. The arm is short enough prised of a foam material that is strong enough to
16 to have fit inside the enclosed ramp “tent”. support more than one 120-pound robots.

On the final week of the Building Season, the Although we were once overweight, we were able
team found that we were about twenty pounds to trim ourselves down to the appropriate scale.
overweight. The arm was unfortunately scraped Being able to face and overcome such challenges
in an attempt to put the robot on a “diet”. has helped our team developed into, not only
trained mechanics and engineers, but brilliant
Now our robot, a ramp-based robot, consists of a problem solvers and collaborators.
ramp and platform. Taking a defensive and assis-
tive approach, Team 812 will be on defense dur-
“As a senior member of the team, my chal-
ing the autonomous mode and remaining portion lenge is not just to build a functioning
of the match. We understand the importance of, robot, it is to train future generations of
not only score points, but also preventing the FIRST Robotics students in the craft of
other alliance from scoring points. building a working robot and have all of
its individual components be able to stand
Although our initial goal was the on their own and work properly. My goal
build a working robotics arm, for this year is to teach each student what
we have developed into a team
which is taking a derfenseive ap-
I have learned, both within and beyond
praoch. the area of engineering. I want to instill
in them the character and discipline that
FIRST has instilled in me.”
-- Thien Nguyen
Robot: Drive Train
OFFICER: THIEN NGUYEN is less contact with the front and back wheels.
OFFICER: PAUL NGUYEN The result is to have the robot turn in a quick
and smooth manner that will allow the driver to

T
he drive train is composed of a six-wheel maneuver the robot on the field easily. Since our
drive system. It is currently running on robot has all six wheels running at the same time,
four CIM motors provided by the FIRST no matter if our robot rocks forward or back
[For Inspiration and Recognition in Science and ward, it still has the same speed.
Technology] Robotics program. In the beginning
of the build season it was designed to run with At the front and back support bars of the robot is
four CIM motors attached to a 2 motor attach- chamfered corner in order to allow our robot to
ment gear box. Although after a long debate over approach other ramp robots without having any
our excess weigh, we decided to remove to mo- trouble running up our alliance members.
tors. The motors are mounted to a plate, and that
plate is mounted at one end of the robot.

The six wheels on the chassis are all operated by 2 “For the past two years, I have felt proud
motors. From the motor to each wheel, there are of the drive train system because we have
sprockets that make our robot run as a six wheels 17
come so far as a team. Our rookies, for
drive. From each sprocket, there is chain that example, have stepped up as leaders to learn
connects that drive systems to the wheels. The
how to build (robots), and produce CAD
center two wheels have treads to give the robot
more friction against the floor, and also to raise
designs.”
the robot, so when the robot needs to turn, there -- Paul Nguyen

Dean Kamen, FIRST Founder, Across the years, the drive train component of the
wanted to create an environment robot continues to improve. With dedicated veteran
where the youth not only aspired members who guided new members throughout
to pursue careers in the main- the entire build process, the drive train was the first
stream industries but appreciated in which completed the task successfully before the
math and science as well. shipping.
Robot: Electrical
“The Electrical Component of the robot it is easy to rearrange to fit more efficiently around
the other parts of our robot. Additionally, we had
is amazing! In my sophomore year, when
various mentors assisting the team members, all of
I first become a part of FIRST, I did not whom believed that their way was the best way. We
have a grand appreciation for Electrical. discovered that compromises had to be met, or it
I was a mechanic. I worked on the Drive would never be finished.
Train, Programming, all that good stuff. Once we had a tentative layout established, we
But after an internship with SeaBotix, began to cut, strip, and solder wires and vari-
a robotics engineering company, where I ous connections on the electrical board. This is a
had to get my hands dirty with wires and wonderful opportunity to get rookies immediately
involved with the robot building. Since it is easy to
electrical boards all day, I become fascinated teach someone with no experience how to read the
with the way things work electronically. distribution schematic and to do the basic electri-
As a second-year member of the Electri- cal requirements, this was a place where rookies
were readily accepted to work without a mentor or
cal Subgroup, I want to teach new mem-
veteran member hovering or criticizing.
bers the essentially of the electrical side of
the robot. In doing so, I want to raise the I know that our electrical board is not the prettiest
18 next generation of electrical engineers, like that you will see on the field, but many members of
Team 812 had a hand in creating it—which I think
myself.” is the most important factor. Much of our team
-- Summer Puente can proudly show off the work they did to help the
electrical group, and indeed, much of our team
can proudly describe what each component does
OFFICER: SUMMER PUENTE [since we had to redo it so much!] In fact, the last

T
day before ship, the electrical components under-
his 2007 build season, we faced some of went another transformation, and perhaps even at
the same electrical difficulties that we faced competition, you will see Team 812 readjusting its’
last year. The main problem that seemed to electrical board. We do not harbor any shame at
never stop coming up was changing the layout of constantly making changes to our robot; we know
our electrical board. Ultimately, I lost track of how that we can always improve.
many times the setup was changed. The reason for
altering our initial design was due to the mechani- Besides, if we had nothing to do in the pit, we
cal components of the robot changing, thus causing would be bored out of our minds! It can be benefi-
the shift of the electrical components. Fortunately, cial to be less than perfect.

With mentors from Cal[IT]2, Team


812 is honored to have a dedicat- “As a part of the Electrical Subgroup, I was
ed group of individuals who are
going out of their way to make able to learn how the robot funcstions down
the electrical component of our to the very core: the electrical board. That
robot a success.
experience changed my perspective on the
robot. Forever!”
-- Ximena Mora
Robot: Programming
OFFICER: ROSE CAO more difficult to train the larger robot due to me-
chanical problems of turning and the inertia of the
OFFICER: JAMES NORAKY
robot. The drive system of the larger robot present-

T
ed another problem in that stopping simply meant
his year the main goal of programming was
no electricity. This meant that the robot would still
to score during autonomous mode using the
be moving even when the algorithm told it to stop
camera. The Midnight Mechanics Program-
after receiving certain camera values. The solutions
ming Team worked with MPLAB to develop an
to this problem were to back drive the robot for a
algorithm using the pan and tilt values from the
short time interval to cancel out the motors, which
camera to drive the robot up to the green light on
have not completely stopped, or to decelerate at a
the competition field.
farther distance.
Essentially, the plan was to train the robot to follow
However, in the end, the major problems came
the green light. This “training” was accomplished
down to weight and time. The programming team
by having a human player drive the robot up to the
ran out of time before the program could have been
light while a computer records the pan, tilt, and
tweaked to perfection. An even greater problem
also the joystick values. Upon running the training
was the weight; the robot was overweight and since
session for several trials and in different positions, a
the camera program was not optimized, it was
linear algorithm was derived to imitate the joystick
discarded. As for the driver interface, the program-
values given the pan and tilt from the camera. In
mers with the consultation of the drivers decided 19
this sense, the robot “learned” how to approach the
on a tank style drive system. Instead of direct map-
light. A scaled-down model robot was first trained
ping, a polynomial was derived with a deadband
to drive up to the light with great success.
to slowly accelerate. Standard buttons were used to
deploy the ramps.
When it came time to test the larger robot, large
scale problems began to appear. For one, it was

Last year, our progreamming team narrowed down to


Mentors from Cal[IT]2 attend
only a group of veteran members. Trying to instill an
regular meetings to help our stu-
excitement to becomoe involved in the programming
dents. MPLab Principal Investiga-
aspect of our team, Team 812 held workshops where
tor, Professor Javier Movellan, is
students were exposed to all areas of building, espe-
on the far left.
cially programming.
Our Sponsors
AFCEA nications field.
The Armed Forces Communications and Electron-
ics Association [AFCEA] is one of the world’s pre- CAL[IT]2
mier C4I professional societies. With over 33,000 Giving the changing climate of competitiveness,
members on four continents, AFCEA is comprised the University of California has leveraged its strong
of political, military and industry leaders. There are research and technical capabilities to create a secret
135 different AFCEA chapters in over 30 countries. weapon: the California Institutes for Science and
The Association is widely recognized for excellence, Innovation, which has the ability to drive innova-
high ethical standards and the quality of its events. tion.
It is considered by top decision makers to be the
pre-eminent association in its field. AFCEA serves But to drive innovation, you must be innovative:
as an ethical bridge between government require- Cal[IT]2 represents a new mechanism to address
ments and industry’s capabilities, representing the large-scale societal issues by bringing together
top government, industry, and military profession- multidisciplinary teams of the best minds [both on
als. and beyond UC campuses] in a way that had been
impossible earlier.
ANNENBERG FOUNDATION
The Annenberg Foundation, established in 1989, is FISH AND RICHARDSON
20 the successor corporation to the Annenberg School Fish and Richardson P.C. is a national law firm with
at Radnor, Pennsylvania founded in 1958 by Walter over 400 lawyers in ten offices: Atlanta, Austin,
H. Annenberg. The Annenberg Foundation exists Boston, Dallas, Delaware, New York, San Diego ,
to advance the public well-being through im- Silicon Valley, Twin Cities, and Washington, DC.
proved communication. As the principal means of The firm is one of the largest firms practicing
achieving this goal, the Foundation encourages the intellectual property, litigation, and corporate law
development of more effective ways to share ideas and the only firm with a truly national intellectual
and knowledge. Ambassador Annenberg founded property practice.
The Annenberg School for Communication at the
University of Pennsylvania in 1958 and The Annen- GENERAL MOTORS
berg School for Communication at the University General Motors, the world’s largest automaker, has
of Southern California in 1971. In 1983, he estab- been the global industry sales leader for 76 years.
lished the Washington Program in Communication Founded in 1908, GM today employs about 284,000
Policy Studies in response to the growing awareness people around the world. With global headquarters
that difficult government and industry problems in Detroit, GM manufactures its cars and trucks
were emerging in the rapidly changing telecommu- in 33 countries. In 2006, 9.1 million GM cars
and trucks were sold globally under the follow-
UCSD, our local university, has
ing brands: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, GM
supported us financially in addi-
tion to providing us with mentors Daewoo, Holden, HUMMER, Opel, Pontiac, Saab,
and resources, especially out- Saturn and Vauxhall. GM’s OnStar subsidiary is
reach opportunities. the industry leader in vehicle safety, security and
information services.

HITEC RCD
Hitec Robotics is a division of Hitec RCD Inc., an “Team 812, the Midnight Mechanics, is a
International manufacturer of Hobby Electron- model of a successful engineering corpora-
ics for over 25 years. This family owned company tion. Qualcomm is grateful for the oppor-
is based in Seoul, South Korea with offices in
tunity to help further the goals of the Preuss
America, the Philippines, Germany, Japan and
China. Hitec Robotics is proud to be a member of
FIRST Robotics Program”
the Hitec family of companies offering dependable -- Qualcomm
hobby electronic products that are used by millions today and into tomorrow.
of R/C and robot enthusiasts worldwide.
UCSD
PREUSS FOUNDATION The institution that became UCSD was first con-
Today, the potentially promising avenues of suc- ceived by the University of California in the late
cess for cancer research in general are substantially 1950s during the postwar science boom. It was to
more varied than they were only five years ago. In be a graduate and research Institute of Technology
response, the Preuss Foundation was formed. The and Engineering, providing instruction and re-
mission of The Preuss Foundation is to rally this search in mathematics, physics, chemistry, the earth
worldwide group of scientific explorers by provid- and biological sciences, and engineering.
ing the funds they need to help end this disease. These original plans were soon expanded into plans
The Preuss Foundation is dedicated to provid- for a more general campus under the leadership of
ing support and an international communication Roger Revelle, then SIO director. The first faculty
forum wherein the progress of innovative research appointment was made in July 1957, and two years
can flourish. 21
later, the UC Regents approved the University of
California, La Jolla. In 1960, the campus was re-
PREUSS PTA named the University of California, San Diego, and
The Preuss School Parent Teacher Association is a its first graduate students were enrolled.
coalition of parents, faculty, and students that are
actively involved in the development and organi- MACHINE PERCEPTION LAB
zation of the Preuss School. Annually, the Parent The mission of the MPLab is to gain insights
Teacher Association contributes to the success of into how the brain works by developing embod-
students by enhancing the learning environment. ied systems that solve problems similar to those
We do this be being involved in student organiza- encountered by the brain. They focus on systems
tions, school functions, and staff development. that perceive and interact with humans in real time
using natural communication channels . They are
QUALCOMM developing perceptual primitives to detect and
Next-generation wireless communications is track human faces and to recognize facial expres-
emerging as the most important technology of this sions. The lab is also developing probabilistic mod-
millennium. To ensure that the entire wireless in- els for integrating multiple sensory modalities, and
dustry is inspired and continues to evolve, innovate actions. Developing such systems requires a multi-
and experience success, QUALCOMM develops its disciplinary approach that combines mathematical
technologies and solutions for the purpose of en- modeling, machine learning techniques, computa-
abling key participants in the wireless value chain. tional modeling of brain function, and behavioral
By partnering with and acting as an enabler to the experiments. Applications include personal robots,
business activities of these participants, QUAL- automatic tutoring systems, and automatic assess-
COMM ultimately enables consumers, profession- ment of affective disorders.
als and government entities — the end users who
benefit from the success of the wireless industry
FIRST Lego League
“Bringing FIRST Lego League to San a deeper appreciation for the mission of the FLL
Diego, Team 812 has had a tradition of competition. Team 812 members were able to create
excitement in a younger generation about the core
spreading math, science, engineering, and ideals of FIRST. They proudly watched the matricu-
gracious professionalism to younger students lation of the next scientists and engineers in the
throughout Southern California!” students they mentored. In doing so, team members
-- Katrina Wong were motivated to set higher standards for the next
generation by being able to surpass the expectations

F
or the past five years, members from Team established for them today.
812 have mentored middle school students
participating in the FIRST Lego League The Mini Mechanics, in turn, inspire Team 812
[FLL] program at The Preuss School UCSD. In the members. “I came into FIRST with little expecta-
2006 season, Team 812 participants mentored four tions. It wasn’t until I was asked to mentor the
FLL teams independently, without adult support, FLL students that I truly recognized the impact of
acting as engineering mentors in the FIRST Robot- FIRST on my peers. I recall working with the FLL
ics program. students on day after school. It late into the eve-
ning and the kids were, as I want to believe, hard at
The challenge was “Nano Quest,” for 2006, which work. One of the kids, a shy young girl, was work-
22
focused on “exploring existing sciences at the ing on her presentation. I sat down and listened.
molecular level”. Through the challenge, students She spoke passionately about how her mother died
discovered this revolutionary field that is expected of cancer; about how the biomedical community
to impact every aspect of modern living. The teams is shy of resources to treat patients of infectious
competed in 9 missions dealing with the manipu- diseases, especially cancer. She expressed the pivotal
lation of atoms and molecules to solve problems. role of nanotechnology in changing the primi-
Not only did the FLL members learn how to build tive atmosphere of the biomedical field by leading
Lego robots, but they also learn about the possible innovation in medicine and treatment. ‘I want to
solutions nano technology can offer to problems in become a physician and treat patients with cancer,’
medicine, the environment, and in everyday life. she said. I am confident that, years from now, she
They demonstrated understanding of these con- will!” said James Noraky, a student mentor for one
cepts by creating their own PowerPoint presenta- of The Preuss School FLL teams.
tion and presenting to a panel of judges.
To continue to give students an outlet for them
Through these experiences, participants gained to express their interest in math and science, FLL
members were allowed to participate in the FIRST
Robotics building season. Becoming “Mini-Mid-
For five years, Team 812 has men- night Mechanics”, these students were given hands-
tored four FLL teams at the Preuss on experience in planning, strategizing, building,
school. Involving middle school
and programming. Each Mini-Midnight Mechanic
students, our team emphasizes
the importance of gracious pro- interned in a group that focuses on a certain aspect
fessionalism. of the robot that they were interested in, such as
arm/appendage, drive train, software, electrical,
and even community outreach. This specialization
will guide the Mini-Midnight Mechanics into a
Working hard on the computer, Preuss School FLL
team tries to complete a program for the robot before
they are called back up to compete.

specific area of interest, which they can build upon their early interest in math and science. In addition,
or explore other aspects that will carry into their they also have special permission to join Team 812
respective futures. in special events such as the Exposition, Kick Off,
The Mini-Midnight Mechanics are able to attend Pick-Up Game, Scrimmage, and Lock-in. This early
meetings during the building season and assist our experience and special privileges that Team 812
team in building the robot. This allows them to creates will enable them to widen and explore their
further gain understanding and insight into the en- interest and make more educated decisions about
riching experience of construction. Many find clar- possible careers in math and science.
ity in what they may want to become in the future- “As a mentor for the Preuss FIRST Lego
perhaps an engineer, a scientist, or a researcher. Few
still find that they no longer want to pursue a career
League teams, I have been able to develop
in the sciences, but still love and are fascinated with as a leader on personal levels. But what is 23
the technology, and continue through the program. more rewarding is the fact that I am able
With this immersion into the FIRST Robotics to spread a little bit of what I know on to
world, it is not surprising to see self-evaluations and younger students. Nothing can compare to
early introspective thoughts. We embrace them into
our high school family, mentoring and encouraging
that.”
-- Umar Usman

Summer Punete expresses her de- Bringing FLL to San Diego County, Team 812 is respon-
votion towards gracious profes- sible for the organization of the San Diego Lego Chal-
sionalism and Team San Diego! lenge, an information FLL tournament run by our team
each fall that engages over sixteen teams in Southern
California.
The Lego Challenge
“Although a leader, I have never been in petition. The subgroups communicated with each
other by documenting work and reporting, daily, to
a position where I am supposed to lead a
the PEMP, a student leader who acts as the liaison.
group of forty people in doing something
that affects an entire community. Organiz- Each veteran was partnered with a rookie team
ing the San Diego Lego Challenge helped member to teach and to train these newly initi-
me understand my place in my school and ated members in the “event planning process”. This
system worked very well and did not put all of the
my community.” responsibilities in the care of the veterans. In addi-
-- Vanessa Pacheco tion, rookie team members were able to gain insight
as to the proper etiquette of event planning and are

T
eam 812 is responsible for bringing the knowledgeable to coordinate events, such as the San
FIRST Lego League program to San Diego. Diego Lego Challenge, in the future. As a whole,
In order to create an interest among the Team 812 contributed time, energy, and great effort
youth, we host an informal Annual San Diego Lego to brought together a completely student-ran com-
Challenge, an FLL tournament, at the Preuss School petition. With a thoroughly structured team, the
UCSD each November. The event was organized subgroups were able to manage the entire planning
and coordinated completely by thirteen to seven- aspects from obtaining and maintaining the facili-
teen year-old students on our team. With sixteen ties, soliciting referees, judges, volunteers, fields,
24 supplies, and all of the materials that were needed
teams in attendance, the event reached to thou-
sands of students, each were ages seven to fourteen, in order to run a successful competition.
and taught the understanding of concepts such as
math, science, and gracious professionalism. Team members arrived early the day of the event.
While the event begins at one thirty in the after-
In order to make such an event possible, as well as noon, many team members arrived on campus at
successful, Team 812 dedicated the majority of their eight in the morning to help set up the field and
time in the planning, managing, and development organize the competition environment. The arena
aspects of the event. Team members often stayed was prepared with this year’s theme: “Nano Quest.”
late at school until 10:00 PM. in order to finalize the When the area was prepared, team members were
preparations for the event. Such devotion demon- delegated jobs, jobs in which they were expected to,
strates a great amount of dedication to the cause, and did, perform at the highest level of excellence.
even after two months of constant coordination. The jobs assigned included: refereeing, selling food,
The team was divided up into subgroups and each speaking with sponsors, presenting to local com-
subgroup coordinated a certain aspect of the com- munity members, leaders, and educators about the
FIRST and our team.

Students competiting at the San When we introduced FLL to San Diego, the FLL
Diego Lego Challenge takes on teams were working independently and did not
the role of engineers and scien- know the benefits of collaboration. Because of our
tists. efforts, we were able to bring the San Diego, and
neighborhood communities, FIRST Lego League
teams together. Through the event, the teams have
created strong, interpersonal relationships with
one another and developed friends in which they
are comfortable discussing game strategies, sharing
An all-girl FLL team waits patiently as their are
called to be on deck for the next game. Excited, it is
the first time where the entire team is comprised of
sisters!

ideas, and working together. Such strong support and internships for first-generation college bound
between the FIRST Lego League teams has never students of low socioeconomic status, targets our
been seen before in the San Diego area. specific student population and helps them become
more confident that, somewhere down the road,
The event showed the community that engineer- they will be in a position where they can strive for
ing and technology can be exciting and interesting. a higher education; the goal of the Preuss School
With every local media station at the event, all of itself.
San Diego was able to learn more about FIRST Ro-
botics, the Preuss School UCSD, Team 812, and our
“Recognizing the dedication of each mem-
mission to bring math, science, and engineering to ber of Team 812 in organizing the San
our underserved communities. Diego Lego Challenge, USD is proud to
support the team. We are also proud to 25
Also, our partnership with the University of San
introduce $5000-$15000 scholarships for
Diego [USD], expands our support for FLL teams
in Southern California. Coming to our event, students, like those of Team 812, who are
USD presented to students, parents, and teachers interested in pursuing careers in math and
the rigorous engineering program that they offer. science at USD.”
Their curriculum, supported with scholarships
-- Rick Olson

The San Diego Lego Challenge is a testament to the


With each passing year, the FLL success of the organizational structure of Team 812. Di-
robots become more sophisti- vided into groups, students are responsible for putting
cated. on the entire event.
FIRST VEX Program
ADVISOR: WALTER SOLOMON robot, and training each student in basic offen-
COACH: BRIAN MOUNMANIVONG sive, and defensive driving.

T
he FIRST Vex Challenge this year was My goal, as coach, was to make sure that
Hangin’ Around. The object of the game the students kept the robot very simple. The
is to attain a higher score than your op- strategy planned for the robot was just to
ponent alliance by placing softballs into your have a sweeper-robot that would gather balls
colored goals, possessing the atlas ball on your and score in the low goals. After the students
side of the field, and by being parked on the finished their planning, they went straight to
platform or hanging on the 33” bar at the end building the robot. After three weeks of learn-
of the match. A bonus is awarded to the alli- ing about tools and parts, and constructing, the
ance that has the most total ball points at the students were ready to turn on the robot and
end of the Autonomous Period. There are a drive.
total of 46 softballs available as scoring objects
in the game. Forty of these softballs will be At the Northrop Grumman Exhibition compe-
found on the field, while three will be available tition, the students performed extremely well,
to each alliance prior to the match. considering they were up against high school
26 students. Each student took control of the
This year, the Preuss School VEX team con- robot for one round. They each out-performed
sisted of middle and high school students, other robots that were trying to accomplish the
one high school coach, and one advisor. I was same task. All their work for the past month
chosen as the high school coach, because I was landed the students in fourth place in a compe-
the Team Captain of last year’s high school tition against high school students and profes-
team. Since the team was made of both middle sional engineers.
and high school students, the team was put in a
new and challenging position for they would be This season has been very successful, consider-
competing against mainly high school students. ing the time constraints. I, as coached, hope
The team also hard a fairly late start, but they that the students learned the most important
did not let time be a factor in completion of the rule about trying to complete a task, and that is:
to keep it simple.
“Even though I will no longer be with
In its second year, VEX outper-
formed veterans teams, college them next year, I am confident that they
level engineering teams, and will mature into an amazing team. Al-
local schools at the VEX Re-
gional Competition.
ready, these students, new but eager, have
shown that they have the potential to rise
as a star in the field. All that is left is for
them to tune up their skills and constantly
apply what they have learned towards
every aspect of their life.”
-- Brian Mounmanivong
THE EXTRA MILE
COMMUNITY OUTREACH
SPREADING MESSAGE OF FIRST

TABLE OF CONTENTS

28 UC REGENTS

29 MAE3 27

30 PROJECT RUBI

31 UCSD EDUCATION STUDIES

32 WOMEN IN ENGINEERING

33 BUDDY

38 STEPS

39 US CONGRESS

41 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD

42 PRINCIPALS’ FORUM

43 INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS

44 TEAM SAN DIEGO


UC Regents
UC Regent, Peter Preuss, made the Preuss School UCSD possible
to be existing today. With his initial generous donation to build
the foundation of the school, he has been involved with the
organization of the school, its curriculum, and importantly, its
FIRST Robotics Program.

T
he University of California Regents govern young adults gives me confidence in what the future
the largest public unversity system in the brings.”
world. They oversee the operations of -Regent Peter Preuss
over nine of the top institutes of higher education,
including: University of California, Berkeley, “The work that you have done in such a short
University of California, Los Angeles, and amount of time amazes me. You are a testament t
University of California, San Diego. the success of the Preuss School. Congratulations
28 on your achievements.”
Supporting our team, the UC Regents extends their -President Robert Dynes
helping hands towards providing us opportunities President of the University of California
to reach out to our local and national community.
Our success as a team could not have been without
their continued dedication and faith in who we are
and what we have come to stand for.

“On behalf of the Regents of the University of


California, we commend you for your hard work
and accomplishments. Your commitment to
the community is remarkable and can be seen
“Seeing the Preuss FIRST Robotics team
throughout the state. We wish you great luck at start off from its humble beginnings as a
competitions and know that all of the UC campuses team that did not even have a machine
are rooting for you.” shop to rely o n into one that has become
-Regent Gerald Parsky such a powerful force in the community has
Chairman of the Board always been an honor of mine. Watching
over their progress across the past span of
“I have seen the Preuss School Robotics Team
six years, it has been amazing to see how
grow since its very inception. They have strived
they could surpass all their troubles and
for excellence and are excelling past anyone’s
imagination. The impact that they have had on the
adversities to emerge as who they are: the
community is immense and can be seen through Midnight Mechanics.”
anything that they do. This group of motivated -- Peter Preuss
UCSD MAE3
“E
ngineers want to build things and use “We proposed this idea to them and they gave us
technology to make the world better, the funding so we could buy the materials and get
and to do that, they need to combine Preuss set up with their own contest,” says Delson.
both theory and practice,” says Nathan Delson, “The funding also allowed us to hire some UCSD
Director of UCSD’s Mechanical Engineering Design students to work as the high schoolers’ mentors.”
Center. “What we try to do is show them they can
build things by using a little bit of physics and During the quarter those UCSD mentors worked
a little bit of math and a lot of creativity. Design twice a week with teams of Preuss School students.
brings all those things together.” Then at the end of the quarter, four teams were
allowed to pit their robots against the best that the
MAE3 [Mechanical Aerospace Engineering 3], a college students could muster. The students recall
ten-week course, includes the basics of building staying at school until 8 each evening in the week
machines and using shop facilities. During the first before the event. In the round-robin elimination
third of the course, the undergraduates work on rounds, one of the Preuss School teams made it
individual projects. Then for the rest of the quarter, all the way to the semi-finals. “They were ecstatic,
they break into teams to build machines - usually especially because they only got their robot working
some type of robot -- that compete in a class-wide a couple of days before the event,” recalls Delson.
contest.
The Preuss School may now incorporate the 29
“The students have a tremendous sense of pride competition into its pre-engineering curriculum,
over getting their machines to work,” says Delson. and Delson hopes the high schoolers will give the
“Students have told me it changes the way they UCSD teams a run for their money again next fall,
think of engineering because of how they bring with continued support from Cal[IT]2.
their ideas and apply them.”
“Because of the Preuss School, I am proud
The Jacobs School and Cal[IT]2 are now trying to to annouce that this year, three other high
use the robot design contest to get even younger schools in San Diego have taken up MAE3
students excited about engineering. In fall 2004,
into their curriculum. The Preuss School
Delson and the Preuss team’s advisor, Rob Man-
ieri, approached the UCSD division of Cal[IT]2 have inspired their district to recognize the
to sponsor Preuss students’ participation in the importance of engineering in education on
MAE3 design contest. Dan Rupert, also a Preuss all levels.”
teacher, guided the students in the competition. -- Nathan Delson

Students from Team 812 are competiting against


undergraduate college engineering students at UCSD.
These students, an all-girls team, came home with the
Third Place Prize.
UCSD MP Laboratory
develop novel training activities in order to make
The Machine Perception
Laboratory works with interdisciplinary research possible; second, to work
children at the ECEC, with local schools on novel educational initiatives;
an easly education day and third, with new public outreach programs.
care center of children
in La Jolla, California., Unlike typical training programs, the training
to study the science of
activities will be aimed at senior scientists as well
how the human brain
works. as students and junior scientists; and they will
involve a range of vehicles, including intensive

T
“bootcamps,” internships, and summer (and winter)
he University of California, San Diego schools. Our group has considerable experience
Machine Perception Laboratory [MPLab] with interdisciplinary training programs, and
solicited Team 812 to be a part of Project we believe we are extremely well-situated to
Robot Using Bayesian Inference [RUBI]. Project consolidate and build on this experience.
RUBI is a research project studying artificial
intelligence through human and robot interaction. The public education part of this program will
Project RUBI works with early child development be aimed at intake. This will involve efforts at
30
centers and University of California students to recruitment of new undergraduate and graduate
conduct their research projects. students, with the particular goal of increasing the
breadth and diversity of student population. We
We serve as a research subject for the MPLab will directly involve students at the Preuss School
and the community outreach portion of their UCSD.
institution. Our involvement with RUBI allows us
to work with the future UCSD Dynamic Learning A second part of the program will be aimed at
Center [DLC], which is being implemented by the outreach. This will involve summer internships
National Science Foundation. The DLC will be an for high school students; intensive workshops for
active research laboratory studying human learning approximately 80 inner-city high school students
and interaction. The DLC will become the epicenter in the Reach for Tomorrow program each summer,
of cognitive research in San Diego. and a summer workshop for high school science
teachers.
According to the National Science Foundation,
the UCSD Dynamic Learning Center, involving The Center’s principal investigators are committed
investigators from fields as diverse as cognitive to science education and to the dissemination to the
science, machine learning, robotics, developmental public, in a meaningful and relevant way, the fruits
and perceptual psychology, and neuroscience. The of our research. The Center will coordinate these
administrative location of the center will be at the activities with The Science Network, a visionary
University of California, San Diego, but there will venture by a coalition of world-renowned scientists
be substances participation from investigators at and media professionals to build a multimedia
UCB, Brown, CMU, CU Boulder, Pitt, Rutger, the programming platform that will be a trusted
Salk Institute, Vanderbilt, Victoria, and Yale. destination for those concerned with science and its
impact on society.
The broader impact of this proposal will be first, to
UCSD Education Studies
E
ducation Studies [EDS] at UCSD offers holds presentations to students during their Discus-
several programs for those interested in sions. Presenting FIRST, engineering education,
teacher training and educational profes- and robotics, we solicit volunteers who are inter-
sional development. For detailed descriptions of ested in becoming involved with FIRST as a men-
individual programs, see the following links on our tor. We pair them with local teams and have them
website: Undergraduate Programs; M.Ed./Creden- shadow those in their region. During this time, not
tial Programs; Master of Arts Degrees; and Doctor only do they offer their knowledge on certain areas
of Education Programs. of business administration, but they also learn how
to start, manage, and fund a successful FIRST team.
Education Studies at UCSD supports the goal of
equity and educational excellence for all K-12 stu- As a result, we are making it more possible for
dents in our public schools. This goal is actualized more schools in San Diego to become involved
through the academic and field components of our with FIRST. Breaking the traditional barriers that
programs. Students learn research-based teaching prevent schools from implementing a FIRST team,
practices and engage in extensive reflection and we offer the County teachers who are both prepared
writing on their classroom practice. Students are for teaching in underperforming classrooms and
asked to examine their teaching performance in re- are equipped with the FIRST experience. These
lationship to the diverse social, cultural, economic, up-coming teachers, the future of our education
and political context of California public schools. system, will be able to spread FIRST wherever they
EDS classroom placements reflect our commitment go. 31
to prepare our graduates to become highly success-
ful teachers in underperforming schools situated “FIRST embodies everything we are try-
within linguistically and culturally diverse commu-
nities.
ing to teach our students in how to become a
better teacher.”
With the EDUS Credential Program, Team 812 -- Rachel Millstone

It comes to be no surprise when Constantly raising the bar, Team 812 reached out to
students in FLL go onto to suc- the UCSD Department of Education Students and
ceed in math and science from an are working with students in their Masters Program.
early start. This tradition is then Having these students shadow a FIRST team, we want
translated into their high school to increase the feasibility of having more schools be
and college years. involed in FIRST.
Women In Engineering
“Team 812 has done an amazing job in UCSD SALLY RIDE FESTIVAL

O
reaching out to female students in the com-
n November 19, 2006, a group of female
munity. It has been a pleasure working students from Team 812 went to UCSD
with them.” for the day to interact with female middle
-- Truc Ngo school students that are interested in math and sci-
ence through the UCSD Sally Ride festival. At the
SAN DIEGO CITY COLLEGE UCSD Sally Ride Festival, Sally Ride made an inspi-
ROBOTICS COMPETITION rational speech regarding her struggles in a society
that demeaned women in engineering and we were

T
his year, San Diego City College, a part of there to provide information at a booth.
the San Diego Community College Sys-
tem, is has invited female participants on In addition to Team 812, other organizations, who
Team 812 to participate in its RoboRocks Robotics were trying to inspire female middle and high
Competition for female high school students. Ro- school students, enhanced the experience for stu-
boRocks is an exciting robotics competition for 10 dents through their hands-on activities stationed at
all-female teams throughout the city of San Diego. their booths. We went to many of the booths, which
were mainly businesses or professional organiza-
Each team consists of three high school students tions, to talk to them about becoming involved in
32 and one college student. Working side-by-side, FIRST and if they would like to attend the Annual
the high school students have the opportunity to San Diego Pick-Up Game. Whether in FIRST Ro-
be mentored, guided, and learns from the college botics, VEX, or FIRST Lego League, some of these
students. Meanwhile, the college students are able organizations could become very influential in girls’
to get a unique first-hand perception from the high lives. At the booth, we answered questions, initi-
school students, as well as fresh ideas. Each team ated conversations with parents and students, and
is mentored by industry representatives from local passed out flyers to the Annual San Diego Pick-Up
businesses and companies. Game and team buttons.

Over a six-week period each team will build a Impact on the girls that talked to us could never be
mobile robot from LEGO Mindstorms kits using measured numerically. When one sees the inspira-
microcomputers and compatible software. Because tion in their eyes, that is what confirms that we,
of generous support from the community, the robot mere high school students, affected their percep-
kits are free to the teams. Members of winning tion of math and science- that it is okay to show an
teams will receive industry - sponsored scholarships interest in such subjects, in fact, encouraged.
to City College.
It is a marvelous change from a dominantly-male
field, to one that girls are more involved in. Per-
Having come such a long way, haps a decade or two from now, we will see one
Team 812 has been able to break of the girls to go to Mars, another to develop a
the biggest barrier in engineer- Nobel-Prize winning theory, or build robots that
ing: gender. dramatically change disabled persons’ lifestyles, and
exclaim, “I talked to her about math and science!”
Our participation in this festival embodies our
mission to change lives, change culture in our own
backyard.
BUDDY Program
“I remember having to wake up really early PREUSS TUTORING
and having to take the car, the bus,a nd Everyday, after school, there are Math and Science
the charter bus today to pick up Angelina Tutoring Programs. Students who are struggling
in math and science or just need a place to go and
Ferreira and I. Although we have so much do their homework can find a place in one of the
homework after school, we still stay in order available classrooms. Math and Science teachers,
to help our students. So it is very unique for although not paid extra for their service, volunteer
a FIRST team to do such things.” their time after school to give students an extra
-- Kyle Norquist helping hand. But there is a problem. Because of
this, not many teachers are able to stay after school.
Although classrooms are filled up with students
BUDDY PROGRAM

S
who desperately need help in these disciplines,
ince 2001, Team 812 made it our mission to there averages only one teacher at any given time to
promote science and technology to youths help the students.
of low socioeconomic backgrounds, under-
represented minorities, underprivileged students, That is where Team 812 comes into the equation.
and girls, a group that compose our team, and give We have students who stay after school everyday
them the head start that we did not have in our to help our teachers be able to tutor and mentor a
local underserved schools. Originating at our own group of thirty kids. Students on Team 812 vol- 33
school with the tutoring of middle school students, unteer their time during the week in order to be
our efforts have spilled beyond Preuss to all over able to reach out to and help students are who in
San Diego County. As a result of our determina- need of guidance. Sometimes Preuss students just
tion, Building Understanding and Determination in need some place to go outside of home. Here, after
Developing Youth [BUDDY] was born. school, they can work with students on our team to
finish their homework, reeducate themselves about

While our goal is to also build Helping students in our community, students whose
computers for those who do lives are much like our own, we see the changes that
not access to them, Team 812 is we entice. It is amazing foe such a team to have such
already piloting local computer an amazing impact.
literacy courses at Boys and Girls
Clubs.
the material that was recently presented in class, or, The feedback Robotics received from the students
sometimes, prepare for an upcoming exam. was very positive. “It feels good to finally under-
stand geometry proofs and the Robotics students
With over seven hours of available tutoring each helped me a lot in this,” quoted Uyen Tran, a
week, Team 812 really reaches out to each student seventh grader. Being proactive in the Preuss com-
in our school. munity allows FIRST Robotics students to give back
to the school that has given tremendous support to
SEA the team.
Saturday Enrichment Academy [SEA] is a program
that offers academic assistance for students who SAN DIEGO PUBLIC LIBRARIES
are on academic probation. At Preuss, the mission The collaboration with the San Diego Public Librar-
is to get all of our students to be able to be eligible ies [SDPL] is a source for Team 812 to do outreach
for a college education. Preuss cannot complete this with inner-city children. The SDPL are dedicated
mission if students are falling behind. While most in assisting Team 812 in our endeavor and provides
students are doing fine in the classroom, we do have many outreach opportunities throughout the year
those we need an extra push. To help them, SEA in order for us to introduce engineering to children.
gives them a place to go every other Saturday to get Team members participate in tutoring sessions at
help from teachers and, now, student mentors from various libraries in San Diego. During these tutor-
Team 812. Team 812 students who excel in academ- ing sessions, team members assist students strug-
ic subjects are given the opportunity to assist their gling in math and science. It is a student-to-student
peers by volunteering as student tutors. interaction.
34
“It is a great help to have students to mentor each In short, our students reach out to children in our
other. This creates an elaborate learning environ- community; children whose lives, as shown, are
ment” quotes Kelly Kovacic, a SEA faculty ad- not much different from our own. We come from
viser. Team 812 members are SEA participants by similar financial conditions and experience similar
mentoring and tutoring middle and high school struggles in school. However, Team 812 students
students in the mathematics and science depart- have experienced these adversaries and feel as
ments. Team 812 students are able to help their though it is our responsibility to assist the next gen-
peers develop into accomplished individuals by, not eration. Through peer mentorship, we assist them
only helping them with their homework on Satur- in their academic education and alleviate whatever
day mornings, but also being able to sit down with struggles they have in life.
them and talk to them about how important it is to
succeed in life; how they can do that if they just put BOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS
in the effort to get help when they know they need Working with local San Diego Boys and Girls
it most. Clubs, Team 812 brought peer mentorship to
younger students in their own communities. These
children are underrepresented minorities who are
Student on Team 812 helping unaware of the importance of math and science. We
classmate with mathematics found that they were as excited as we were to col-
problem. laborate and had a real interest for technology and
engineering.

We developed a curriculum for the local Boys and


Girls Clubs for a computer literacy program for the
students. Computer literacy is a crucial skill that is
The UCSD Moore Cancer Center is a place
where senior FIRST students package lo-
cal laboratory experiments for schools.

needed in high school, college, and vital in the busi- of questions, comments, and ideas for constructing
ness world. Starting from age five to age ten, stu- a possible robot. Though we have not yet started the
dents work with us to build basic computer skills. team, we are beginning to prepare them and give
The curriculum consists of small interactive work- them all an opportunity to be a part of FIRST. We
shops, each an hour, on the basic operations for had an overwhelming interest of girls that found
using Microsoft Office, proper Internet usage, and the FISRT Lego League program to be very “cute”
typing skills. In the typing skills workshops, we give and something they would like to do.
students twenty minutes a session to practice their
typing on “Typing Tutor.” We survey them in order Team 812 students also had them draw what they
to make sure that they are following the proper envisioned a robot would be. These kids then went
typing behaviors and encourage them constantly to on to build mock robots of their own out of Lego
keep them interested and motivated. pieces. 35

Team 812 students are given the opportunity to VOLUNTEER SAN DIEGO
practice their computer skills and learn new ones as Volunteer San Diego [VSD] is an organization
we collaborate with the local Boys and Girls Clubs. that helps individuals, families, and corporate and
We are also spreading FIRST in our community by community groups find volunteer opportunities at
exposing students to the potential of technology more than 800 diverse service organizations and
and making brand-new friends in the process. In schools throughout the county. VSD capacity build-
addition, we are equipping them with skills that we, ing programs and services allow volunteers to work
alone, had to develop ourselves as younger chil- hand-in-hand with nonprofit agencies to develop
dren. As their mentors, they do not have to struggle strong and vibrant communities.
through the process, for we are there with them
each step of the way. VSD volunteers, now 36,000 strong, are at work
every day of the year, building community and
DAY CARE CENTERS meeting critical needs by teaching children the
Bringing FIRST to local day care centers in San joy of reading, beautifying our parks and beaches,
Diego, we were able to integrate others in the preparing meals for our homebound neighbors, dis-
community into our team. Through a short video tributing food to low income families and learning
demonstration of the building process in FIRST what it means to create positive change. Last year,
Lego League and a demonstration of an FLL robot, VSD volunteers contributed over 108,000 hours [or
we introduced FIRST Lego League to the children $2 million in people power] to make our commu-
at the local day care centers. nity a better place to live, work and play.

We had an immediate and tremendous response SAVY


from the students. The students submitted a torrent Students Actively Volunteering for You [SAVY], a
tion rates, and students from geographic areas with
Science Night at local Garfield documented low college eligibility or participation
Elementary. Team 812 showcase
rates.
students out robot.

MONARCH SCHOOL
The Monarch School located in downtown San
Diego, offers homeless children and teens a place
to receive a good education and a source to of
acquiring basic necessities. The Monarch School
takes the initiative to not only educate, but provide
program of Volunteer San Diego, has been empow- basic needs such as food, clothes, and hygiene tools
ering young people to make a difference in commu- as long as they are in school. This school funded
nities since 1984. Middle and high school students by gracious donations is an indispensable asset in
throughout San Diego County have the opportunity changing the culture of the time by giving those
to develop and demonstrate leadership skills while that are least likely to succeed a chance.
meeting real community needs.
Despite all efforts, the students of the Monarch
SAN DIEGO RESCUE MISSION School still are “last in line” when educational op-
This year, with Volunteer San Diego and SAVY, portunities are being provided. All coming from
Team 812 reached out to the local San Diego disadvantaged backgrounds, Team 812 feel an over-
Rescue Mission, a local institution for sheltering whelming familiarity with this situation, and have
homeless teenagers. The San Diego Rescue Mission a need to share our good fortune as FIRST partici-
36
has the capacity to clothe, feed, and support twenty- pants with Monarch School students.
one teenagers at any given time. Although they do We have begun to crate an open network between
receive funding from the local and state budget, the Preuss School and the Monarch School in
they do have a hard time getting buy. which we wish to open a path of success for Mon-
arch students by bringing FIRST.
With chipped walls and fraying pieces of furniture,
the Shelter needed a desperate make over. VSD so- With Cal-SOAP, we are piloting SAT/ACT prepara-
licited the support of Team 812 to come out to the tory courses at the Monarch School. Our students
Shelter and build shelving units. After installing the have prepared their own SAT/ACT material and use
new pieces of furniture, Team 812 became dedi- the generous help of Cal-SOAP to run these events.
cated towards reaching out to the homeless popula-
tion in San Diego. Extending our peer mentorship We are working with UCSD to attempt to open
support out to the kids in the Shelter, our team will the resources that the Midnight Mechanics have at
be helping these kids, not only getting off the street, UCSD to Monarch students so they can have ac-
but also get back on their own two feet. cess to college mentors, machining shops, funding,
internships, and over all support. We are committed
CAL-SOAP to give the Monarch School all the opportunities
To provide information about postsecondary and aid that we have been lucky enough to receive.
education and financial aid to elementary through
high school students while raising their academic REUBEN H. FLEET SCIENCE CENTER
achievement levels. In particular, Cal-SOAP is The Reuben H. Fleet Science Center seeks to inspire
committed to providing services to students from life-long learning by furthering the public’s under-
low-income families in which they would be the standing and enjoyment of science and technology.
first to attend college, students from schools with
documented low college eligibility or participa-
Team 812 students are working with the Reuben H. the chassis of our robot.
Fleet Science Center in order to create a robotics
program in their Community Education Depart- Enthused, team members are attacked by questions
ment. In addition, Team 812 volunteers weekly regarding the function of the robot. Parents and
at the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center in order to teachers also speak to our team members about
instill an interest of math, science, and engineering their experience with FIRST and the Preuss School
among the youth. UCSD. Amazed to see children of similar condition
succeed at a college preparatory school for low-in-
In addition to the Team 812, more than 100 people come children, these parents make up their mind
currently volunteer at the Reuben H. Fleet Science that, later on in their child’s life, they want them to
Center. Youth and adult volunteers work in every attend a school like Preuss.
area of the museum. Volunteers greet visitors, staff
the information booth, work behind the scenes do- We also host laboratory experiments at local
ing essential daily jobs such as administrative work schools as a part of our Service Learning require-
and filing, explain and demonstrate science in the ments for the senior graduating class. Senior FIRST
exhibit halls and serve in a variety of ways at special members on Team 812 spend their Friday Morn-
events. ings teaching students fundamentals of earth, phys-
ics, chemistry, biology, and medical sciences and
FLEET SUMMER CAMP enhance them with a laboratory activity. Students,
Our volunteers also mentor students at the Fleet performing science experiments during school, are
Summer Camp each summer. The Summer Camp asked to present the results and conclusions to these
includes a one-week training and informational experiments to parents and school administrators. 37
course in forensics, biology, robotics, aeronautics,
and genetic exploration. Attracting hundreds of
students throughout Southern California, the Fleet
Summer Camp is an amazing summer program to
promote math, science, and engineering.

For the past two years, we have been lending out


a helping hand to the Fleet Center. Also, we have
been involved in working to put together a robotics
competition for the Fleet Summer Camp. Work- “My mother would get so mad at me for
ing with the Lego Education Department, we hope spending all of my time “building robots” as
to establish a Lego Mindstorm course as a part to
she calls it. But really, I am also out in my
the Summer Camp. Our students are thankful for
all that we have been given by the Fleet Center and community changing the way people think
want to do all that we can to give a little bit back. and perceive math, science, and technol-
ogy. I am mentoring students of an under-
SAN DIEGO SCHOOL DISTRICT served background. I am teaching them the
At local elementary, middle, and high schools,
importance of academic excellence and are
Team 812 hosts Science Nights to, not only get stu-
dents, teachers, and parents involved in the learning helping them achieve that through tutoring
of science education, but FIRST as well. Showcasing them each week. So she call yell at me all she
our robots, we expose students to FRC, FLL, and wants, deep inside I know what I am doing
Vex robots. Students, excited and eager to see such for my community.”
machinery, run from the arms of their parents to
-- Ximena Mora
STEPS Program
Presenting to local educators and
students about opportunities in math
and science, Team 812 makes scholar-
ship and internship opportunities more
available to a broader population of
students.

“It was amazing to be able to stand in We hold conferences, workshops, and seminars
front of a group of people and be able to tell for high school students to learn about summer
programs at Temple University, John Hopkins,
them your story; the story of how you tran- MIT, WPI, and UC schools. These universities work
sitioned from being a small, impressionable with us to spread the message of their programs
child to one that is participating in a twlve to eligible students throughout San Diego County.
year internship with the National Insti- With NASA and National Institutes of Health, we
tutes of Health at the Temple University promote research fellowships for college students
across the nation by making presentations at our
38 Scbool of Medicine in Philadelphia each local universities.
summer. It is even more wonderful with
parents come up to you and tell you that We also collaborate with Cal[IT]2, UCSD Cancer
they aspire for their children to be just like Center, and Neurosciences Institute to provide
you.” internships for FIRST students. Students have the
unique opportunity to be able to work in labora-
-- Paul Tran tories alongside college mentors who are study-

T
eam 812 witness our teammates, despite ing telecommunication, science education, and
their situation, achieve their dreams. By cognitive science. We also work with UCSD, USD,
reaching out to the next generation of Pre- and SDSU to provide $5000-$15000 scholarships
uss students, they motivated us with their accom- to cover tuition costs for first-generation college
plishments and their stories. Our success as indi- bound FIRST students.
viduals today, is a direct result of their mentorship,
gracious professionalism, and service. Now, being given access to a path towards suc-
cess, we recognize that it is pivotal to reach out to
Team 812 initiated the STEPS [Students Together children; children whose lives are not much differ-
for Education and Promotion of Science] Program ent from our own. We provide our communities the
to matriculate students into a math, science, and resources that we were not fortunate to have access
engineering profession. Our team made partner- to when we were younger. As a result, these chil-
ships with local and national universities and dren do not have to face the struggles that Preuss
organizations to make STEPS the first successful Robotics students had to experience.
scholarship-internship advocacy program in the
West.
US Congress

W
ith Congress, Team 812 is spreading team will be visiting Washington DC to speak to
the message of FIRST throughout the Congress about FIRST.
United States. In the beginning, we
wrote letters and sent out regional invitations to our LETTER FROM LORI SALDANA
local legislatures. Although that was a great effort, Dear FIRST Robotics Team 812 Students:
it was even more wonderful when our local legisla-
tures responded. Congratulations on your successes at the Southern
California Regional and National Championship
Before long, we found ourselves in the office of competitions! I am thrilled to learn that your team
Lori Saldana [CA-76], talking to her about FIRST was able to finish in the top fifty of all teams cur-
and our experience with engineering and robotics. rently participating in the FIRST program.
Later, we found a letter in the mail from Susan Da-
vis [CA-53], who pledged her support for our team. I am also excited that 2007 will be the first year that
We even heard back from her and were informed the San Diego area will host its own Robotics Re-
that she was able to engage Nancy Pelosi [CA-8] to gional competition. This new event will give addi-
help us institute nationwide engineering education. tional local students the opportunity to participate
in FIRST teams, and to learn more about engineer-
Together, they urged Congress to work with us to ing, science, and technology. The mission of the
39
put the United States back in the forefront of in- Preuss School and its FIRST Robotics Team is an
novation, especially at a time when we were falling important one, giving low-income first-generation
farther and farther behind. Making Team 812 a part college bound students many opportunities that
of the history of the United States, they had our would not have been available to them otherwise.
accomplishments documented in the permanent
Congressional Record. In May, a student from our I look forward to meeting with the FIRST Robot-

From the very beginning, Susan Lori Saldana and Susan Davis have been contributing
Davis has shown her support for factors to the success of Team 812. Because of them,
the Preuss School and Team 812. Congressional members, like Nancy Pelosi, are in-
volved in the spreading of FIRST ideals.
Students on Team 812 are commended
by local legislatures for our involvement
in FIRST.

ics Team students to learn more about the program ing March. I know you are all probably already hard
and its future in San Diego. If there is anything at work for the 2007 competition and I want to take
that my staff can assist you with, please contact my this opportunity to send my best wishes to you and
district office. your team. I certainly know which team I will be
rooting for come April.
Sincerely,
Lori Saldana My staff and I have been working very hard the past
Assembly Member, 76th District couple of weeks to craft a statement for the Con-
gressional Record to commend you and your team.
LETTER FROM SUSAN DAVIS I was honored to submit the statement today.
Dear Paul Tran of Team 812,
40 With warm regards,
Thank you very much for your recent email about Susan A. Davis
the Preuss School FIRST Robotics Team. I appreci- Member of Congress
ate hearing from you and apologize for the delayed
response. It was great to hear from you.

Team 812 sounds like exactly the kind of organiza-


tion that our country and the City of San Diego
needs. I want to congratulate you and the rest of the
Midnight Mechanics on your back-to-back Region-
al Chairman’s Award and Regional and National “Wow! When I reached into the mail and
Engineering Inspiration Team Award. received an official letter from Ms. Susan
Davis, I knew that it was the real deal.
In addition to these prestigious awards, I would After hundreds of letters to local legislatures
also like to commend Team 812 on its service to the
community. At a time when our country’s young
and regional invitations, I have been an-
people are falling farther behind those of other ticipating some form of response for months.
industrialized nations in engineering and science, Here it is! In the palm of my hand. Who
your team’s work with FIRST BUDDY, FIRST would have known that weeks after the
STEPS, and your efforts to bring FIRST to other Prudential Financial Foundation was go-
high schools in the San Diego area are critical to
helping us close that gap.
ing to sponsor my trip to Washington D.C.
to speak about FIRST and Team 812?
I am very glad to see that San Diego will be hosting Who in the world knew?”
its first ever FIRST Regional competition this com- -- Paul Tran
Congressional Record
Team 812, the Midnight Mechanics, from the Preuss I am proud to report that through the hard work of
School UCSD in San Diego, California was a subject the Midnight Mechanics and the Team San Diego
of discussion at the January 29 Congressional Meet- FIRST Robotics coalition, the City of San Diego will
ing. Our representative, Susan Davis [CA-53], made be hosting its inaugural FIRST Robotics Competi-
a statement about Team 812 and our accomplish- tion this coming March.
ments to Nacy Pelosi, Speaker, and all of the Con-
gressional members. The following is the statement At a time when our country’s young people are
that was placed into the Congressional Record: falling father and farther behind those of other
industrialized nations in math and science, I want
SPEECH OF HON. SUSAN A. DAVIS to commend the members of Team 812, for their
CALIFORNIA DISTRICT 53 dedication to their craft, for their excellence in their
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES efforts, and for the ability to instill a love for science
MONDAY, JANUARY 29, 2007 in fellow young people. Not only are the Midnight
Mechanics first rate competitors, they are also true
Ms. DAVIS of California. Madam Speaker, I rise servants of the community. We need more role
today to honor the members of the Preuss School models like these to inspire our younger children.
UCSD robotics team. Team 812, known as the
Midnight Mechanics, have competed in the FIRST Finally, I want to recognize Paul Tran, the dedicated
Robotics Competition - an annual robot design young man who first brought Team 812 to my at-
and construction contest that draws over 20,000 tention. Paul wrote the following to me in a letter: 41
participants from all over the world - for the past
five years. “We need your help to assist us in instituting FIRST
Robotics in every high school in San Diego, in Cali-
For two years in a row, Team 812 has won the Re- fornia, and essentially, the United States ... We need
gional Chairman’s Award for the Southern Califor- your help to bring FIRST to the attention of the US
nia Region. During the 2003-2004 competition, the House of Representatives and the Senate.”
Midnight Mechanics won the National Engineer-
ing Inspiration Award. Madam Speaker, dear colleagues, I hope you will
help me fulfill Paul’s request and spread the word
But Team 812’s accomplishments do not end out- of this wonderful program to all corners of our
side the engineering lab or the construction shop. country.
The team has initiated the FIRST BUDDY program
to mentor disadvantaged students in math and SPEAKER: HON. NANCY PELOSI
science and estbalished the FIRST STEPS program
to reach out to inner-city high school students and
share with them their zeal for science.

Team 812 has also brought their passion into the Team 812 student writes
classrooms and corridors of 10 other high schools letters to local legislatures
in the San Diego area and has helped them field on the computer.
robotics teams of their own. Together the Midnight
Mechanics and these 10 newer teams have formed
the Team San Diego FIRST Robotics coalition, a
coordinating organization to build new partner-
ships in the community and recruit more high
schools to field robotics teams.
Principals’ Forum
To make the mission of FIRST more applicable
Local educators gather to the education system established in San
around the auditorium to Diego, Team 812 aligned FIRST Robotics to
listen to a FIRST student from
Team 812 speak about his the California State Education Standards. We
experience with FIRST. depicted how FIRST played a role in all educa-
tional disciplines and how having a FIRST team
at any high school would not only improve the
quality of the education provided but also the
system by which the school operated upon.

E
ach fall, Team 812 organizes the An- Team 812 presented this information at our
nual Principals’ Forum at the Reuben H. Principals’ Forum and sent each educator off
Fleet Science Center in Balboa Park. The with a small, condensed information packet
Reuben H. Fleet Science Center sponsors the that details what we have accomplished in that
event by providing their facilities for Team 812 field. Our hope with the Principals’ Forum is to
to be able to carry out the mission of FIRST: to show teachers the impact that FIRST has had
spread math and science to all those who are on all members of the San Diego community
42 willing to listen. but also persuade them to try and do their best
in spreading FIRST to their schools.
Our target audience is local administrators and
educators in the Southern California region. “How in the world could someone have had
Principals from local schools are invited to such an impact of a group of princiapls?
attend the event in order to gain a deeper I cannot even begin to imagine. But the
understanding of FIRST and the FIRST Robot- truth of the matter is, I stood there in the
ics Program at the Preuss School. In order to
pit and spoke to a group of about five prin-
present this information in a cohesive man-
ner, Team 812 organizes keynote speakers who cipals and teachers and told them about
would speak to our attending principals about FIRST. I told them about how it has helped
how FIRST has impacted their life, their school, me become a mature young woman and see
and their community. the potential of engineering math and sci-
ence. I really have gained an appreciation
We also invite Team San Diego teams to show- for the Forum because it connects me with
case their robots and recent achievements such people and helps me to make a real im-
at the Principals’ Forum. Teams, with their
pact in my world. Those same five educators
separate pits, would be able to showcase their
robots to, not only local educators, but also
left the forum that day holding a booklet of
local businesses and companies who are inter- Team 812 their hands and the inspiration
ested in helping Team San Diego extend out to to start a FIRST program at their school in
other schools in the region. their hearts.”
-- Trang Dinh
International Programs
Judges at the Southern California Regional are
lined up and eager to introduce themselves.

I
n an effort to spread the message of math From then on, Team 812 at Preuss has been
and science internationally, team 812 has involved with the organization.
partnered with the International Human-
ity Foundation to bring an education to needy Team 812 members organize monthly fund-
children in poverty-stricken countries like raisers to sponsor classrooms in Indonesia
Indonesia and Kenya. The International Hu- and Kenya. The money funds an education in
manity Foundation is a humanitarian organiza- English, Math, and Computer Literacy among
tion founded by Carol Maisara Sasaki focused other things for the kids. Team 812 sends
on feeding and educating children affected by money monthly to continue supporting these 43
severe poverty. Mrs. Sasaki is widely recog- kids by selling food donated by our own robot-
nized for her efforts as a volunteer winning the ics members. In addition to lending support
Presidential Volunteer of the Year Award and financially, the team is working to support the
has worked with past presidents Reagan and kids by communicating with them and offer-
Clinton in her service. As a strong believer in ing mentorship via email, letters, and webcam.
the power of education, Sasaki came to the Pre- 812 members would offer advice on working
uss School and spoke to our students encourag- toward college here in the states and share their
ing them to get involved with her organization. experiences in FIRST in hopes of sparking their
interests in math and science.
“Walking into the auditorium of the Preuss
School UCSD, I would have never guessed Through working with the International Hu-
that I would have been able to meet with manity Foundation, not only are the children
in these countries receiving an education but
such interesting and dedoicated people:
the members of Team 812 are as well. Coming
Team 812. Sure, I expected hundreds of ea- from disadvantaged backgrounds ourselves, we
ger and enthusiastic young children wait- get an opportunity to support children living
ing to ask questions or hear about how i got a life affected by even more unfortunate cir-
here, but never, never! did I ever imagine cumstance and give them more of a chance to
that a small robotics team would impact succeed. Team 812 hopes to travel to Indonesia
me the way that it has impacted the com- to install solar panels in areas needing electric-
munity.” ity and visit the children.
-- Carol Sasaki
Team San Diego
“I have seen the way my society works. It is The teams work together in order to build a high
not an amazing way, trust me. You have regard for math and science in their underserved
communities. They collaborate to make presenta-
these students who are always trying to tions and organize and promote series of events that
get to the top and then there are those who are hosted.
don’t even care. Team San Diego, support-
ing all the schools with a FIRST team pus- A strong bond that is created between all of the
ghes both cultures forward. It is amazing teams leads to a cooperative environment. Ideas
and concerns are shared between the teams.
to see kids who would have never succeeded Through this partnership, the teams have been
in school make something of themselves able to succeed inside and outside of FIRST. Under
through robotics; through Team San Di- our leadership, teams from the Team San Diego
ego. You see them dedicated for once, you see coalition have won the All-Star Rookie Award for
them being proactive and leaders in their three consecutive years at the Southern California
Regional and last year at Arizona. Teams have also
own community; a community of FIRST won the Las Vegas Regional, the Engineering Inspi-
teams. Sometimes, you never see their ration Away, Safety Award, Daimler-Chrysler Team
44
parents come out to support them, which is Spirit Award, Johnson and Johnson Sportsmanship
great by the way. Looking back, I am proud Award, and the Perkins Entrepreneurship Award.
to be a part of the team that started it all. I
FIRST ROBOTICS KICK-OFF
can only wait and see what the future truly The San Diego FIRST Robotics Kick-off is the fruit
holds.” of several years of recruiting teams and finding a
-- Antoinette Brou secure location to keep the season’s game veiled
until the moment came. With the help of Team
TEAM SAN DIEGO

A
San Diego, the San Diego FIRST Robotics Kick-off
s the eldest team in San Diego, Team 812 became an official kickoff site with the creation of
has taken the leadership role to recruit the San Diego Regional this year. On the campus of
more teams in the area. Team San Diego High Tech High San Diego, teams from San Diego
consists of ten teams from primarily San Diego County congregated to discover what each year’s
County. This forum works together in an effort to challenge will be. In addition to viewing the pre-
bring the FIRST ideals to areas all over Southern recorded broadcast, participants were invited to a
California and beyond. Team San Diego works series of brain storming activities and team building
together to host a variety of robotics events in the exercises. The Kick-off serves as a first glimpse of
San Diego area and to support each other in the FIRST for rookie teams and gives them the oppor-
building of our robots. This web of collaboration tunity to have questions and concerns addressed.
between the teams enables both local students and
adults to work cooperatively towards a common FIRST ROBOTICS EXPOSITION
goal. The San Diego FIRST Exposition was established in
order to educated prospective community mem-
Team San Diego was formed in 2003 under the bers, leaders, educators, and students about the
leadership of Team 812. Currently, Team San Diego FIRST Robotics Program. Team San Diego collabo-
is comprised of ten award winning FIRST teams.
rates to put on the exposition, including promotion other FIRST Robotics teams. Hosted at Madison
of the event to the community and the organization High School, Team 812 members help coordinate
of pit and robot demonstrations. the event. Coordination includes the creation of
signs, robot preparations, presentations and listing
On the day of the event, 812 members decorate and an inventory of available necessities [i.e. toiletries,
put up posters to guide guests. We also demo an sleeping bags, etc.] that are unavailable for our par-
actual competition pit set up and answer any ques- ticipants. Team 812 members are also responsible
tions any of the rookie team members may have. for the preparation of the competition environ-
Each team present brings their robot and is able ment. Preparation includes setting up the playing
to have a practice run-through on the game set up field for the competition.
while giving advice to other teams having trouble.
Team San Diego teams also greet guests, including The event includes entertainment and food. Many
sponsors and business people, and introduce them attendees end up staying late enjoying the games
to the competition. Through the expo, more of and social environment with other FIRST partic-
the community is exposed to FIRST Robotics and ipants. A Scrimmage very similar to the actual com-
rookies get an idea of the actual regional competi- petition takes place consisting of practice rounds,
tions. qualifying rounds, alliance selections, finals, judges
and referees. This friendly competition brings clo-
sure to the season. Members of the San Diego and
ANNUAL LOCK-IN AND SCRIMMAGE Los Angeles community are invited to experience
Team San Diego hosts the Annual San Diego FIRST with Team San Diego and witness the hard
County Lock-in and Scrimmage. In the past, teams work each team put into the competition. 45
from California, Arizona, and Nevada have attend-
ed to compete in an informal post-season FIRST
competition.

At the Lock-In event, teams participating in the


Scrimmage have the opportunity to socialize with

Whether it be speeches, presenta- Team 812 leads Team San Diego in the spreading of
tions, or just a simple showcase of FIRST ideals with events such as the Team San Diego
the robot, do your best to spread Exposition. But after such a long day, team members
the name of the school and the are tired and worn out.
team.
Executive Summary
“Looking out into the crowd, I would have
never guessed that my team, a small me- ROLE MODEL CHARACTERISTICS FOR OTH-
ER TEAMS TO EMULATE:
chanic team nested behind a mask of bal-
Team 812 founded the TSD [Team San Di-
loons and banners, would one day emerge ego] Coalition to support all San Diego teams.
to become a Chairman’s Award winning We lead TSD by attending monthly meetings,
team. Somehow, it came to my surprise providing workshops, grants, and guaranteed as-
that we were a Chairman’s Award win- sistance. We also reach out to 20 FLL teams and
run the San Diego Lego Challenge every year.
ning team two years in a row.”
Our year-round outreach includes mentoring
-- Vu Hong struggling students, speaking at events, restoring
homeless shelters, offering SAT/ACT help, VEX,
IMPACT OF THE FIRST PROGRAM ON
and providing summer engineering programs.
TEAM PARTICIPANTS:
We are more than just a robot-building team.
Although we come from disadvantaged back-
grounds, FIRST helped us become confident,
IMPACT OF THE FIRST PROGRAM ON YOUR
motivated individuals who will succeed in life.
TEAM AND YOUR COMMUNITY:
Netting over 2 million dollars in scholarships,
Because of FIRST, Team 812 students recog-
100% of team members go on to 4-year uni-
46 nize the potential of engineering. We partnered
versities with 80% pursuing careers in math,
with Project Lead the Way to implement 3 high
science, and engineering. Having participated
school engineering courses, FLL, and VEX.
in summer engineering programs, research
Encouraging kids in our community to pursue
fellowships, and UCSD internships, students
opportunities in math and science beyond the
use their acquired skills to change the lives of
classroom, our STEPS Program partners with
other inner-city children in our society.

FIRST has guided us along this Having once been the child of the inner city, Team 812
path of success and remember all has adopted the role of being the vehicle for change in
those who have helped us come our society. We are GOING THE EXTRA MILE to reform
such a long way. the culture of San Diego.
TEAM’S COMMUNICATION AND RESULT:
Although we have no Simulating an engineering corporation, Team
machine shop, Team 812 is 812 is divided into subgroups of business
fortunate to have dedicated
administration to delegate and complete tasks
mentors from the university
come and help us with our efficiently. Communicate via weekly meetings,
endeavors. online blogs, listserv, website, and forums, we
also have our PEMP [Pneumatics, Electrical,
Mechanical, Programming], a liaison for the
subgroups. We actively communicate with
our sponsors and local legislatures to foster
Temple University, Johns Hopkins, MIT, WPI, cohesiveness of FIRST. With Congress, we are
UC schools, NASA, NIH, Cal[IT]2, UCSD working to promote FIRST and gracious pro-
Cancer Center, and Neurosciences Institute to fessionalism.
advocate scholarship, internship, and fellow-
ship opportunities. OTHER MATTERS OF INTEREST:
We established a strong partnership with
STRENGTH OF YOUR PARTNERSHIP: UCSD. In addition to mentoring our students,
Our partnership with AFCEA, Annenberg UCSD students, faculty, and engineers gives
Foundation, Cal[IT]2, Fish and Richardson, us insight on the college experience. Through
General Motors, Hitec RCD, Preuss Founda- UCSD, we work with Cal[IT]2 and Machine
tion, Preuss PTA, Qualcomm, and UCSD Perception Laboratory on piloting MAE3, a
provides us with funds, mentors, and outreach college-level engineering course, in local high 47
opportunities. BUDDY, our peer mentorship schools. With UCSD EDS, we inform up-com-
program, partners with Preuss, SEA [a tutoring ing teachers about FIRST. We also speak about
program], San Diego schools, San Diego Public FIRST to young girls at the UCSD Sally Ride
Libraries, and Boys and Girls Clubs, to help Festival. By supporting us, UCSD contributes
struggling students. Together, we completed to our success.
3500 hours of showing the potential of math
and science in our society.

TEAM’S INNOVATIVE METHOD TO SPREAD


THE FIRST MESSAGE: “In past years, we have always focused on
Through conferences, presentations, and ar- what we didn’t have. Yes, we are still the
ticles in Union Tribune, NBC, Preuss Insider, same group of inner-city kids who come
BusinessWire, and UCSD Publications, we from poor families where no one has gone to
spread FIRST to our community. Our align-
ment of FIRST to the California State Educa-
college. Yes, we are still the disadvantaged
tion Standards and Principals’ Forum teaches children who had to struggle to put together
educators about FIRST. With the International a robot without the aid of a machine shop
Humanity Foundation, we are sponsoring kids or engineering corporations. But you know
in Indonesia and Kenya an education. Through what? We have grown to become so much
monthly emails, letters, and webcam, we com-
municate gracious professionalism and self-suf-
more. Rich with diversity and opportuni-
ficiency ideals. ties to touch our community, we are Team
812.”
-- Dan Rupert
Chairman’s Submission
O
Organized into subgroups, Team 812 works
ur story begins in 2001. We were a like an engineering corporation. Each sub-
group of inner-city kids who came into group delegates and completes tasks efficiently.
FIRST with the goal to build a working Divided into Arm, Drive Train, Electrical, and
robot. Now, 6 years later, we have risen above Programming sections, each student is dedicat-
societies’ expectations. Although we may have ed towards one aspect of the robot. Our PEMP
been the latchkey kids, today, we are driving [Pneumatic, Electrical, Mechanical, Program-
change in our society. ming], a student leader, maintains collabora-
tion among team members and cohesiveness of
This is the story of Team 812, the Midnight current goals.
Mechanics:
Our relationship with service organizations
BREAKING GROUND provides us not only with funds, but outreach,
At the Preuss School UCSD, a 6-12 grade internship, and career opportunities as well.
charter school for low income, first-genera- Students, professors, and engineers from UCSD
tion university bound students, we started 3 mentor us throughout the season. We even
high school engineering courses, FLL, and have parents and alumni who volunteer during
VEX. Mentoring 4 FLL teams at Preuss, we also the build season. Our success is a result of the
organize the San Diego Lego Challenge, an FLL lasting partnership we built with our commu-
48 tournament. FIRST teaches us the importance nity.
of outreach, entrepreneurship, and gracious
professionalism. 100% of FIRST alumni go To capture our excitement of FIRST, we work
on to 4-year universities with 80% pursuing with the Union Tribune, NBC, Preuss In-
careers in math and science. sider, BusinessWire, and UCSD Publications.
At Championships last year, the NewsHour

With the memories in my heart GOING THE EXTRA MILE does not only embody who
and experiences in mind, all that we are as a group, but it also depicts our struggle as
I have been given by my school a whole. each day, Team 812 has to go the extra mile
and community. to travel from our homes across thirty miles to get to
school. It is this effort that unifies each proud member
of Team 812.
with Jim Lehrer documented our team and Since our conception, we wanted to bring a re-
our robot. They interviewed our mentor, Rob gional to San Diego. After 6 years of campaign-
Mainieri, and alumni, Vu Hong and Angelina ing, we are honored that FIRST recognized
Saldivar. Angelina said, “I really didn’t think our efforts and inaugurated the San Diego
that I could do anything like this. I am a His- Regional.
panic female … being through the program
taught me to believe in being able to achieve PAVING THE ROAD
anything.” It was only 3 years ago when we worked with
UCSD and Cal[IT]2 [California Institute for
Expanding FIRST, we help started San Diego Telecommunications and Information Tech-
teams and founded TSD [Team San Diego] nology] to pilot MAE3 [Mechanical and Aero-
coalition. We offer younger teams mentors and space Engineering 3], a first-year college en-
workshops on grant writing, public speaking, gineering course, at Preuss. We inspired other
and outreach. With Armed Forces Communi- high schools to work with UCSD and Cal[IT]2
cations and Electronics Association, we provide to launch MAE3. Seeing students benefit from
$500-$2000 grants to TSD teams. Through the experience, 3 other high schools have in-
monthly meetings, we help TSD in spreading corporated MAE3 into their curriculum.
FIRST ideals throughout Southern California.
By supporting each other, showing the val- We also work with the UCSD Machine Per-
ues of gracious professionalism, and offering ception Laboratory to advance Project RUBI
guaranteed assistance, we foster collaboration [Robot Using Bayesian Inference], a research
throughout TSD. project studying artificial intelligence through 49
child/robot interactions. We build chassis parts
and provide input for RUBI. In return, RUBI
“We were the first in San Diego. As a provides us mentors and connects us to the
result, it was our responsibility to be of use UCSD DLC [Dynamic Learning Center], an
and assistance to other teams. Across the institution studying human learning. Funded
by the National Science Foundation, Team 812
past six years, not only have we started
is the outreach portion of DLC. Piloting their
new teams. We also went out of our way Reach for Tomorrow Program, we provide
to help support them through the estbalish- internships, summer seminars, and training
ment of Team San Diego. Although there for inner-city students and teachers to prepare
are times where it is difficult to just stand them for the classroom and college.
on your own two feet, we understand
In our neighborhoods, high quality teachers
the importance of being able to reach out are in demand for our schools. Team 812 works
to others; those who are also in a time of with UCSD Department of Education Studies
desperate need. Regardless of whether or not to train successful teachers for underperform-
we find our way, as the founding team we ing schools. We hold presentations during their
discussions and are working towards engaging
must lend a hand to those who are strug-
them in FIRST. They will shadow local teams
gling. Now, many San Diego teams are as mentors and learn how to start successful
self-sufficient. But, still as ever, the shar- teams of their own.
ing of resources have proven to be the most
powerful.” With members from all demographics, back-
grounds, and gender, Team 812 involves all
-- Summer Puente
students in robotics. To support the next
generation of women engineers, we share our
experience of FIRST to middle and high school
girls at the UCSD Sally Ride Festival. We speak
to eager parents and teachers about FRC, FLL,
and VEX. Recognizing our dedication, San
Diego City College invited us to participate
in the City College Robotics Competition for
female students. Working with college students
and industry representatives, 3 girls from Team
812 will be building a robot for the competition
in May.

Taking the ideals of FIRST into our hearts, we


demonstrate its impact in personal ways. Hav-
ing grown up with little support, we make it
our mission to aid underserved youth. Through
BUDDY [Building Understanding and De- We know the importance of helping kids whose
termination in Developing Youth], our peer lives are like ours. We want them to understand
mentorship program, we spend 15 hours a gracious professionalism and be prepared for
week tutoring students at Preuss and Saturday college. Team 812 is paving the road for the
50 Enrichment Academy, a program for students next generation of success.
on academic probation. We host Science Nights
and laboratory workshops at local schools. GOING THE EXTRA MILE
At San Diego Public Libraries and Boys and In our community, only 35% of students go
Girls Clubs, we help kids with their homework to college. Team 812 created STEPS [Students
and teach them computer skills. Our target Together for Education and the Promotion of
audience now includes homeless youth. With Science], a scholarship-internship advocacy
California Student Opportunity and Access program, to change these statistics. We hold
Program, we pilot SAT/ACT programs at the conferences for high school students to learn
Monarch School, a shelter for homeless teens. about summer programs at Temple University,
We even restore homeless shelters downtown John Hopkins, MIT, WPI, and UC schools.
and orphanages in Mexico. Our humanitar- With NASA and National Institutes of Health,
ian efforts helps these kids embark on a better we promote research fellowships for college
future. students across the nation. STEPS is the first
successful advocacy program in the West.
At the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center in
Balboa Park, we run monthly science activities We collaborate with Cal[IT]2, UCSD Cancer
and mentor kids in forensics, biology, robot- Center, and Neurosciences Institute to provide
ics, aeronautics, and genetic exploration at the internships for FIRST students. Students work
Fleet Summer Camp. Each fall, we hold our in laboratories studying telecommunication,
Principals’ Forum at the Fleet Center. We share science education, and cognitive science. We
the impact of FIRST to local educators and pro- also work with UCSD, USD, and SDSU to
vide evidence of how engineering will improve provide $5000-$15000 scholarships to cover
schools. tuition costs for first-generation college bound
FIRST students.
We are helping these kids gain a deeper appre-
“Outreach begins at home, but seems to have ciation for themselves. Our ultimate goal is to
no end for Team 812,” said a Chairman’s Award have them go to college in the United States.
Judge at the Southern California Regional.
Across a span 6 years and 3500 hours, we con- Having won Regional and National Engineer-
tinue to prove this statement true. ing Inspiration and consecutive Regional
Chairman’s Awards, Team 812 continues our
With Congress, Team 812 is spreading the mes- tradition of excellence. We have transformed
sage of FIRST throughout the United States. a culture that was once known for its drop-out
In the beginning, we wrote letters and sent out rates into one that is matriculating students
regional invitations to our local legislatures. It prepared for college. Team 812 is a team whose
wasn’t long before we made our first presenta- legacy lives in our community.
tion to Lori Saldana [CA-76]. Later, Susan Da-
vis [CA-53] pledged her support and engaged FIRST has guided us through the path of suc-
Nancy Pelosi [CA-8] to help us institute nation- cess to where we stand today. Despite our low
wide engineering education. They urged Con- socioeconomic status, we have risen above
gress to work with us to put the United States expectations. We will be the first in our fami-
in the forefront of innovation. Making Team lies to go to college; to make a difference in
812 a part of the history of the United States, our world. Although it may seem that we have
they had our accomplishments documented in come far already, we continue to go the extra
the permanent Congressional Record. In May, mile.
a student from our team will be visiting Wash- 51
ington DC to speak to Congress about FIRST. This is only the beginning.

To increase the feasibility of expanding FIRST


to other high schools in San Diego, Team 812
aligned FIRST to the California State Education
Standards. We want to provide local school ad-
ministrators proof of the role FIRST plays in all
educational disciplines. We plan to bring our
work to Jack O’Connell, California Superinten-
dent of Education, and Congress to promote
FIRST as a nationwide program.

With the IHF [International Humanity Foun-


dation], a humanitarian organization, we are
helping educate children in Indonesia and
Kenya. Each month, we organize fundraisers
to sponsor an education in computer literacy,
leadership, and English for these kids. We cor-
respond with them monthly via email, letters,
and webcam. Providing positive role models,
Team 812 motivates them to understand that
they can be self-sufficient and succeed despite
their hardships. We plan to visit them and in-
stall solar panels in regions needing electricity.
52
53
GLOSSARY OF ACRONYMS
BUDDY Building Understanding and Determination in Developing Youth
SEA Saturday Enrichment Academy
54 SDPL San Diego Public Libraries
SDBGC San Diego Boys and Girls Clubs
VSD Volunteer San Diego
SAVY Students Actively Volunteering for You

STEPS Students Together for Education and Promotion of Science


MIT MITES MIT Minority Instroduction To Engineering and Science
JHU CTY Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth
TMARC Temple University Minority Access to Research Careers
WPI GEMS WPI Girls in Engineering, Math, and Science
NASA National Aeronautics and Space Assocation
NIH National Institutes of Health

UCSD University of California, San Diego


USD University of San Diego
SDSU San Diego State University

Cal[IT]2 California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology


MPLab Machine Perception Laboratory
RUBI Robot Using Bayesian Inference
DLC Dynamic Learning Center
RTP Reach for Tomorrow Program
NSF National Science Foundation

Cal-SOAP California Student Opportunity and Access Program


IHF International Humanity Foundation
MIDNIGHT MECHANICS TEAM 812
THE PREUSS SCHOOL UCSD
LA JOLLA, CALIFORNIA 858.658.7400
WWW.MIDNIGHTMECHANICS.ORG

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