Philadelphia Area High School Students’ Custom-Built Robots
On Monday June 15th at the Comcast Center on 17th & JFK, fifty local students from eight Philadelphia area public and private schools and members of FIRST® Robotics took over the Comcast lobby to showcase their skills in robotics. The FIRST® Robotics program aims to inspire students 9th-12th grade to learn STEM skills and be leaders in innovation.
Students are inspired by the Comcast NBCUniversal employee mentors and challenged to build robots that perform prearranged tasks against competitors with the ultimate goal of winning the top prize at the international FIRST Championship.
The demonstration brought together influencers including: Jim Carr, Executive Director of Mid Atlantic Robotics; David L. Cohen, Senior Executive Vice President for Comcast Corporation; and Neil Hartman, Anchor for Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia.
By Tiffanie Stanard, Co-Host and Producer @Philly_Speaks
Source: Tiffanie Stanard, Radio One
Source: Tiffanie Stanard, Radio One
Official Comcast Media Advisory:
MOVE OVER R2D2: PHILADELPHIA AREA HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS’ CUSTOM-BUILT ROBOTS
TAKE OVER COMCAST CENTER PLAZA
WHAT: Approximately 50 local students from eight Philadelphia area public and private schools and members of FIRST® Robotics<http://www.usfirst.org/> will take over the Comcast Center Plaza this Monday, June 15 at Noon. Team members from Bishop McDevitt High School’s E=mCD, St. Hubert All-Girls High School’s BambieBotz and Wissahickon High School’s Miss Daisy will provide a live demonstration of their innovative robot designs, and a team member from Central High School’s RoboLancers will discuss the team’s FIRST experience. The Philadelphia-area student teams are sponsored by Comcast NBCUniversal. This demonstration follows these teams’ participation in the annual FIRST® Robotics Competition<http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/frc> (FRC®), which seeks to inspire students around the world in grades 9-12 to be science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) leaders. Teams are challenged to work together to build and program a robot to perform prearranged tasks against competitors with the ultimate goal of winning the top prize at the international FIRST Championship. After the demonstration, attendees will be invited to try their hand at driving some of the robots.
Comcast NBCUniversal employee mentors from a wide variety of business groups – from engineering and technology to the legal department – helped 37 FIRST teams around the country compete in 2015 FRC. The Comcast Foundation<http://www.comcast.com/community> also donated nearly $100,000 to the program this year.
The demonstration is part of a daylong program the students from eight Philadelphia-area FIRST teams aimed at exposing them to careers in STEM. Activities include a tour of the Comcast Innovation Lab and Accessibility Lab; a lunch & learn with Senior Comcast Leaders and local technology startups; and trainings.
WHEN: June 15, 2015 12:00 – 12:30 PM
WHERE: Comcast Center – Outside on the West Plaza 1701 JFK Blvd.
WHO: Approximately 50 local FIRST students and mentors from Philadelphia area public and private schools; Jim Carr, Executive Director of Mid Atlantic Robotics; David L. Cohen, Senior Executive Vice President for Comcast Corporation; and Neil Hartman, Anchor for Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia.
WHY: The FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) robotics program supports and encourages students to pursue the study of STEM disciplines. Students who take part in FIRST competitions are nearly twice as likely to pursue a college degree in STEM. Comcast supports programs like FIRST to inspire STEM majors and keep the pipeline of innovation full for U.S. technology companies.
