The Weekly Buzz Issue 5;; 4/20/2015

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Buzz Robo t i c s : F IRST Team175

Inside this Issue:

Woodie Flowers 2

Woodie Flowers 3

Alec Mason 4

Thomas Vose 5

Springfield Images 6

Hartford Images 7

NE District Images 8

THX Jane 8

Issue 5 of 6: District Competitions

The Buzz

Onwards to St. Louis in Championship Style!!!

Published by: Cara & Kurtis

After success at NEFIRST District Championships

2nd Place OVERALL #7 of 175 Teams in NEFIRST

The Weekly Buzz Issue 5;; 4/20/2015

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Buzz Woodie Flowers Award Essay

Mentors. They strive to help us. They strive to guide us through our lives. But who is

lows the students to integrate themselves and partake in discussion? One who knows when to step back and let the students lead a discussion? One who identifies not only

Buzz, our mentor embodies these ideals into his core and exuberates enthusiasm not only for FIRST, but also dedicates his time to work individually with students. This year, Team #175 would like to nominate Mr. Peter Polis for the 2015 Woodie Flowers Award.

Pete, as we call him, has been a part of Buzz Robotics since 2006. Each day he works

dents who are actually interested in building a robot from scratch [as vehicle for learn-­

how to be engineers.

During his 8 build seasons, Pete has been encouraging student driven designs as op-­posed to mentor driven designs. He realizes that robotics is not only meant for compe-­tition, but it is meant to teach students about engineering. Pete has often been seen as a mediator between the mentors and students, shutting down mentor discussions in fa-­vor of student driven input. He is often seen discussing ideas with students instead of mentors to encourage and develop their engineering skills while at the same time, pushing them to be the best they can be

Pete has stood by our team through both the good and the bad. He has often been

every one of us to be the best we can be and that is one of the reasons we are a well-­

arguments, but because we shine under pressure. Often, our best ideas come from these discussions. That is what makes us Buzz. It is not how we compete, but how we work together to create this piece of machinery we call a robot.

We decided to nominate Pete Polis not because of his extreme dedication to our team, taking the time from work to attend competitions or set up a pit, but rather because he inspires each and every one of us to be the very best. His comedic personality and his respect for the team synthesize to create one of the best mentors on Buzz. Without Pete, our team would not be where it is today nor would its members be the outstand-­ing people we know. Without Pete, Buzz would just be another team. Without Pete, we would not be able to make honey.

The Weekly Buzz Issue 5;; 4/20/2015

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Buzz Woodie Flowers Award Nominee

The Woodie Flowers Award is presented to an outstanding Mentor in the ro-­botics competition who best leads, inspires, and empowers their team using excellent communication skills. This award recognizes an individual who has done an outstanding job of motivation through communication while also challenging the students to be clear and succinct in recognizing the value of communication.

For this award, the students of Buzz Robotics submit an essay nominating one mentor from their team to be considered for this award.

passion for and effectiveness at attaining FIRST ideals is exemplary.

The mentors of Buzz Robotics get to nominate two sophomore or junior stu-­dent team members to be considered for this award.

The following pages have the 2015 Nominees.

The Weekly Buzz Issue 5;; 4/20/2015

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Buzz Robo t i c s : F IRST Team175

an individual. Along with his success on Buzz, he has academically done very well at Enrico Fermi HS and in his spare time, has obtained the level of Eagle Scout.

Alec is dedicated, positive, engaged, and eager to both learn and contribute to the team. Being quiet, people might not notice all of this. But he has been a major contributor to the robot controls -­ asking questions, finding answers, and offering and implementing solutions. He works like a ma-­ture engineer or scientist observes;; listens;; thinks through;; and then presents and supports his ideas with data and conviction.

Alec has taken on the important role of assisting with the programming and working with the lead programmer to refine and automate functions for the robot. As an underclassman, he has repeated demonstrated his skills, during preseason, build and competition. Alec often goes to the Enfield Ele-­mentary schools to demo Buzz and promote FIRST. He also helps with the demos at Family Fun day on the town green. He is a great teacher to the new students, always welcoming and helpful.

Without mentor support, Alec has taught himself the robot's programming language, Java, and in-­teracts well with his teammates in order to provide robot functionality as well as other tasks such as electronics board layout and wiring, checkout and build of various other subsystems. This all

well as he continues to mature. He works hard, has no issue asking questions and likes to under-­

BUZZ MENTOR SUBMITTAL WRITTEN IN SUPPORT OF ALEC

The Weekly Buzz Issue 5;; 4/20/2015

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Buzz Robo t i c s : F IRST Team175

-­Finalist #1 candidate for the 2015 season. HE GETS IT!!!

The best way to see that he GETS IT can be seen in his own words in an article that he wrote for a recent Buzz Newsletter.

anted to learn a lot more about electrical and mechanical engineering last year so I took a two week course at Worcester Polytechnic Institute

t were offered at WPI. I did not know what an engineering degree entailed at the time but I can tell you now that it is exactly what I would like

et so many nice people including kids from many other FIRST teams that I am still in touch with today. I have decided that I want to go into the en-­gineering and robotic field due to the experiences Buzz and WPI have given me as a student in high school. WPI is my top choice to go to

Tommy is a very active person, a true go-­getter. When not working hard with Buzz or excelling academically at Enrico Fermi HS, he can usually be found on the hockey ice with his family, friends and fellow students. He is a voracious hockey player and plays to win. This is a successful confident attitude that he also brings to BUZZ & FIRST.

Tommy has demonstrated many of the FIRST ideals;; works with teammates well, a self-­starter, has been involved with multiple aspects of the robot build including electrical, software, pneumatics and other hardware aspects. He demonstrates Buzz and promotes FIRST at the Enfield Elementary schools. He also helps with the demo at Family Fun day on the town green. He is a great teacher to the new stu-­dents, always welcoming and helpful.

Tommy is a leader and fully engaged in the team. He shows confidence, dedication, and a positive attitude. He is also inquisitive and engaged, well spoken, polite and presents himself well. Always willing and able to do whatever is needed for the team.

The latter can be demonstrated through his actions last season at one competition where Tommy was assigned/chosen to be Human Player. Rather than taking a passive role during the drivers' meeting, he approached the Refs afterwards, asking questions, analyzing the responses to ensure that he had the details down. He also exceeded mentor expectations by often working with alliance teammates and strategizing game element handoffs based on the match competitor's "routine".

ured and gained the full respect of his fellow Buzz Students and Mentors since his freshman year. We mentors look forward to working with him through this season and next and are happy that Buzz & FIRST have helped to make his desired career path Engineering.

BUZZ MENTOR SUBMITTAL WRITTEN IN SUPPORT OF TOMMY

The Weekly Buzz Issue 5;; 4/20/2015

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Buzz Robo t i c s :

SPRINGFIELD DISTRICT EVENT

Buzz made it to the semi-finals

The Weekly Buzz Issue 5;; 4/20/2015

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Buzz Robo t i c s :

HARTFORD DISTRICT EVENT

We made it to the quarter-finals

The Weekly Buzz Issue 5;; 4/20/2015

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A Fresh Face For

Buzz

Thanks to Jane Haertel for making Buzz a new mascot

costume!!!

NEW ENGLAND DISTRICT CHAMPIONSHIP EVENT

2nd Place OVERALL #7 of 175 Teams in NEFIRST