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NEWS | Aug. 29, 2019

NSWC Philadelphia Division Robotics Mentors Prepare for New School Year

By Keegan Rammel, NSWCPD Public Affairs NSWPCD

Naval Surface Warfare Center, Philadelphia Division (NSWCPD) employees prepared for a new year of robotics competitions during a mentoring seminar hosted by the Command on Aug. 29.

During the seminar, first-time NSWCPD mentors had the opportunity to see the robots in action, hear from students participating on the robotics teams, and talk to other engineers about the rewards of mentoring. Engineers at NSWCPD currently support 56 elementary, middle, and high school robotics teams. 

This year, NSWCPD will be partnering with the Philadelphia Robotics Coalition (PRC) to mentor 20 high school robotics teams throughout the Greater Philadelphia Area. 

The coalition provides technical support, a base of mentors, and funding for schools that need assistance. Through the PRC, NSWCPD’s engineers can be assigned to mentor multiple teams with varying levels of need. The PRC is led by Philadelphia’s Central High School, which has been assisting other schools’ robotics programs throughout the region for several years. 

Since updating its Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) charter in 2017, NSWCPD has developed a list of outreach-related goals for the Greater Philadelphia community, the Command, and for the NSWCPD engineers’ professional growth.

More specific community-related goals include attracting a diverse pool of students to the NSWCPD STEM pipeline and cultivating industry, government, and academic relationships in the Greater Philadelphia Area. The goals for the Command and NSWCPD employees include growing the Command’s STEM identity, creating mentoring opportunities for the engineers, and developing professional skills by personally mentoring students. 

One of the most direct ways that NSWCPD employees can achieve these goals is working with the PRC to mentor local students at over 20 different high schools. The Command’s engineers work with teams and schools participating in the international robotics program For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST).

FIRST offers four programs designed to serve kindergarten through high school students. The programs are all focused on robotics at different skill levels. The PRC focuses on the FIRST Tech Challenge, FIRST’s competition for students ages 12-18. 

“The FIRST Tech Challenge is the right level of difficulty for most of the schools involved,” said Sean Gallagher, NSWCPD systems engineer and Director for the Philadelphia Robotics Coalition. “It can be accomplished by middle schoolers, but it is certainly complex enough for high schoolers.”

Gallagher and fellow NSWCPD engineer Tristan Wolfe, STEM Outreach Coordinator, are leading the Command’s involvement with the PRC and FIRST. Both Gallagher and Wolfe have been working with Central High School’s robotics team where they met engineering teacher Michael Johnson.

Johnson noticed that fewer schools in the Philadelphia area were competing in robotics competitions and realized that Central High School could assist struggling schools with grants and mentors.

“We take a three-pronged approach to supporting teams. We distribute grant funding to teams for their (parts) kits, registration, and coaches — typically $1,000 to $3,000 per team,” Johnson said. “We organize a series of workshops and competitions to provide opportunity for teams to work together and build excitement. And we work to match teams with adult mentors who will work with them on a weekly basis as they prepare their robots and presentations — that's where the NSWCPD employees come in.”

Students and mentors work in teams to build a robot from the parts kit, program the robot to operate autonomously and by remote control, and develop the team’s strategy to score the most points with their robot during the challenge. 

The FIRST Tech Challenge pairs each school’s team with another school to compete against another pair of schools, teaching the students about teamwork not only within their own school, but with engineers they are meeting for the first time.

Gallagher believes the robotics programs supported by the PRC prepares students for a career in engineering and creates a pipeline for talented engineers who may one day work for the Navy.

“We could bring in every single student at Central High School robotics team right now, without the students going to college, and they would be a valuable addition to the Navy,” Gallagher said.

The program is also a chance to engage students who are not already interested in STEM. The FIRST program offers engineering experience for students who want to work in marketing and fundraising, as well as students interested in programming.

“Central High School has a business team that focuses on writing grants, making ads, marketing, and communicating with the outside, a lot of the things I do every day,” Gallagher said. “As an engineer, I write, I market my ideas; I have to convince people that my ideas are good.”

Students from any high school team who do not already have skills needed to thrive in the FIRST competition can participate in Central High School’s preseason boot camp training. The PRC offers basic workshops in computer drawing, machinery, programming and other skills necessary to build a robot.

“Robotics programs teach technical skills and give students the opportunity to meet and interact with STEM professionals. But more than that, it gives them a crash course in teamwork and communications skills as they work together to achieve a product that none of them (including their adult coaches and mentors) could accomplish alone,” Johnson said.

NSWCPD’s partnership with the PRC allows the Command’s employees an opportunity to work with schools throughout the region and focus on the schools that need the most help.

“I think it’s important to maintain and expand relationships with Philadelphia schools,” Wolfe explained. “As teams start to excel on their own, the Philadelphia Robotics Coalition can reallocate their resources on higher needs schools.” 

Working with students also provides NSWCPD’s engineers with an opportunity to collaborate across technical codes and meet other employees as they prepare to mentor potential future engineers.

Mentoring high school students sharpens a young engineer’s skills in low stakes circumstances, and leading a team of students through a project has helped him lead teams of professional government engineers, according to Gallagher.

“Being a mentor teaches project management, systems engineering, and public speaking,” Gallagher said. “Particularly for young people coming into the organization, this is an invaluable way to practice skills that they can bring back to NSWCPD.”

NSWCPD employs approximately 2,600 civilian engineers, scientists, technicians, and support personnel doing research and development, test and evaluation, acquisition support, and in-service and logistics engineering for Navy ships. NSWCPD is also the lead organization providing cybersecurity for all ship systems.