A Call for FIRST Volunteers

[jkodosky]

To the LabVIEW Developer Community,

Engineering innovations have conquered society’s challenges and changed our world for the better.  As engineers, we should see the reports indicating a decrease in engineering enrollment in US schools as great cause for alarm.

We need to inspire and engage tomorrow’s potential engineers, and prepare them for a rigorous university education so that they are equipped to meet society’s grand challenges.

FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is a remarkable organization, which National Instruments proudly supports.  I ask that you share your LabVIEW expertise with FIRST students at kick-off events in your communities on January 3, 2009.

FIRST is changing society’s perception of math and science achievement by celebrating it in the same way we celebrate achievement in athletics.  FIRST tackles this goal through robotics competitions where primary and secondary students work in teams alongside professional engineering mentors.  Students gain first-hand knowledge of how to solve engineering problems in a finite amount of time with limited resources.

This hands-on learning environment sparks students’ creativity and interest in engineering.  FIRST students are more than three times as likely to major specifically in engineering, and more than twice as likely to expect to pursue a career in science and technology when compared to their peers.

Starting in 2009, students in the FIRST Robotics Competition will use NI LabVIEW and NI CompactRIO to build their 130-pound competition robots.  We need the LabVIEW community to plug in and support these students’ efforts to learn LabVIEW and CompactRIO.

Specifically, you can help by:

   1- Presenting a LabVIEW training session at a FIRST kick-off event on January 3, 2009.

      FIRST hosts kick-off events around the country; students will receive the challenge for 2009, and a kit containing CompactRIO and LabVIEW.  We will provide the training material, but would like a LabVIEW expert at each event!

      Email frc2009@ni.com (mailto:frc2009@ni.com) to learn more.

   2- Answering questions in the FIRST online discussion forums

      Learn more>> (http://decibel.ni.com/content/docs/DOC-2623)

Please join us in our goal to inspire the engineers of tomorrow.

Regards,

Jeff Kodosky

Message Edited by Support on 11-26-2008 01:12 PM

[alex.]

May I join the volunteer team. Thanks.

[cbaxter]

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jkodosky wrote:

I ask that you share your LabVIEW expertise with FIRST students at kick-off events in your communities on January 3, 2008.

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 Time travel, while sounding fun, is not currently possible.  Should this be on January 3, 2009? 

[Laura F.]

Yes, it should be 2009.  We've updated the post, thanks!

Laura
Web Support & Operations
National Instruments

[CoastalMaineBird]

Time travel, while sounding fun, is not currently possible.

I think we just got a sneak peek at LabVIEW 9. 

Message Edited by CoastalMaineBird on 11-29-2008 07:17 AM

[Cory_K]

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jkodosky wrote:

We need to inspire and engage tomorrow’s potential engineers, and prepare them for a rigorous university education so that they are equipped to meet society’s grand challenges.

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I'm an engineering student right now   ! Look at that, I have people looking out for me.

[MichaelChristopher]

I am a CLAD, and in Austin.

There has to be a hundred smarter LabVIEW experts than me in this town, but if I can help, I will.

Michael Christopher

michael d christopher at gmail dot com

[JFMoynihan]

I attended a LabVIEW Users meeting here in St. Louis last night on this very subject.  I was very impressed by the students, their robots and their programming skills.  One of the students asked for help for his team.  He said they needed help learning more about labview.  As a CPI, I saw a great opportunity to use my skills to help our future engineers.  I handed the young man my card and told him I'd be glad to help.

[nathand]

I sent an email to the address in this post a month ago, and haven't received a reply.  Has anyone else been contacted about this by NI?  I have been in touch with the coordinator of the local kickoff event, and I'm wondering what training material NI can provide.

[jsiegel]

I sent an email at least a month ago, got no response, and sent another one after a few days..  After several weeks, I finally got a response from someone asking where I was located and how far I was willing to travel.  I responded back (with two follow-up emails) and haven't heard anything after a few weeks.  I'd like to help, but I can't do much without any more information.