DC FIRST Robotics Competition

Friday was the opening of the DC regional FIRST Robotics Competition.  I had not been to a FIRST competition before.  The students are in high school.  Six weeks ago, each team received a kit from which they are to make their robots.  The robots play a form of basketball.

During the first 20 seconds, the robots autonomous.  They must find the basket and shot two balls into the basket without any input from a human.  They have sensors that can "see" the backboard of the hoop.

The robots are then under remote control of the student teams.  They try to make baskets and must "pick up" the balls and shoot.  The high basket is 3 points, the middle basket is 2 points and the low basket is 1 basket.  The most points are if two opposing team robots can get on and balance on the  balance board for 45 seconds without moving.

The kids have a lot of fun with it and many of them dress up in all kind of fun ways.  It was really fun to see and to talk with the students and their mentors.  This is a great program that kids can really get excited about while learning.

ASCD (Administrator Supervisor Curriculum Development)

Christ Church

Last week I was in Philadelphia for the ASCD Conference.  It sounds like a conference for administrators, but it is also a great conference for teachers.  Almost half of the attendees were K-12 teachers.

One interesting session I listened to was titled, Tired or Retiring: Prepare to Enter the Arena of Active Retirement.  The speaker was 70 years old and a retired principle that was starting his second charter school since retirement.  One of his suggestions was to spend 6 months to a year living on what you will have for income during retirement so you can see if it will be enough to have the life style that you are anticipating during retirement.

My hotel was 10 blocks from the conference center so I walked a lot and got to see many historic areas of Philadelphia. Of course, I had to eat a Philly Steak and Cheese.  It is humungous.  Lasted for two meals.

Big city streets.

Independence Hall

Betsy Ross House

Spring in DC

It is spring here!  DC in the springtime is one of the most beautiful places I have seen.  I walked this afternoon to the Tidal Basin to see the cherry blossoms.  I am sharing them with you.

The Week of March 6, 2012

Interesting week here in DC.  I am on a committee that writes and publishes a bimonthly newsletter, called CS Bits and Bytes, for teachers and students about computer science.  One of our future editions will feature Artificial Intelligence, so we were very excited to learn that Dr. David Ferrucci, from IBM, was coming to NSF.  Dr. Ferrucci's team created Watson, the super computer that played the champions of Jeopardy and won.  We were able to meet with him before he gave his presentation to NSF.  We also video taped an interview with him and a local high school student.

Yesterday was the Intel Science Talent Search Gala.  Many of the Einstein Fellows were invited. What an evening.  It is a black tie affair, so we get to dress up.  40 of the top high school science fair winners are brought to DC.  They spend a week here and are treated like royalty.  They get to meet the President and then on the last day they showcase their projects at the Gala and the top ten are announced and receive a cash prize ranging from $10,000 for number ten and increasing to $100,000 for number one.  These kids are amazing.

The 40 best science fair students from across the US.

A full sit down dinner with a waiter in a tuxedo waiting at each table to serve wine to each guest.

Me, all dressed up.

Finally, today our office celebrated Pi Day, March 14, with lots and lots of pie. My division is a great place to work with some really nice people.

My office mates, Einstein Fellows Michael Picconi and Ann Drobnis.

SIGCSE-Special Interest Group for Computer Science Educators

I just returned from a conference for computer science educators in Raleigh, North Carolina.  The weather was beautiful.  I really liked Raleigh.  I arrived a day early and walked all over the city.

Raleigh is the state capitol of North Carolina.

They are very proud of their oak trees.

Me and Sir Walter Raleigh.  He is all dressed up for Women's Heart Health Week.

I liked this solar powered electric car charging station.  It is part of a research project at the University and one of two such stations in Raleigh.  There was no cost for the car owners to use the station.

Just to show that I really did attend the conference and not just sight see.

This little Kung Fu dancing robot was a real favorite of the conference attendees.

It was "First Friday" while I was there.  The shops, galleries, and restaurants were open.  this street musician was playing a guitar made from a metal lunch box with a wooden finger board held on with wire and duct tape. His drum set was a foot pedal that hit the back of the suitcase that had a tambourine attached.  It was amazing when he hooked it all up to a small electric amplifier.  It sounded like an electric guitar and was pretty musical.

Idaho

After Monterey, I flew to Idaho for a few days before returning to DC.  I had a busy week with dentist appointment, doctor appointment, visit with dept of ed and my district and school and finally my tax preparer.  Any time between all of the appointments, I spent with family and friends.

While at Anna's I showed the boys how to make straw rockets and then Alka Seltzer powered rockets.

The boys really enjoyed cutting and taping the rockets together.

Launching is easy.  You just blow on the straw.

Cobin soon determined that the Alka Seltzer rockets flew much higher with just the "fuel" canister and without the rocket.

Wow. Look at it go!

I was glad to be able to spend some time with my mom.

Traveling again - Monterey

February and March I will be traveling a lot.  Traveling has been one of the opportunities of my fellowship that I enjoy the most.  I have never seen as much of this country in my 58 years, as I have during the last two years.  I am always amazed at how beautiful it is everywhere I go.  The USA has so many wonderful places to visit.

Last week I was in Monterey, CA for a Principle Investigator Meeting of our Research Experience for Undergraduates group of grantees.  There were about 85 PhD types from different universities.  I had a good time.  I met most of them last year and I correspond with them through email often.

Monterey beach is very different from Cocoa Beach.  The water was rough and cold.  The beaches are rocky and dangerous.  Our hotel was right over the water.  For half a day we all went to the Aquarium which is on the ocean and the fish live in ocean water.

This is my hotel, Monterey Plaza.  It was literally right on the ocean.  The views were beautiful.

Me, standing on the hotel balcony between meetings.

The aquarium is in a building that used to be a fish cannery on Cannery Row.

The sea turtle surrounded by sardines.  They are in an enclosed part of the ocean.  The people visitors can view them through large glass windows.

The trip was not all sightseeing.  We also had two full days of meetings.  Here I am getting ready to present the NSF Highlight Contest winners.  Each project sent me a highlight of what they are doing and I arranged a committee at NSF and we chose the best five.  They each received a special cup and were recognized at the meeting and in the booklet.

Sea lions summing on the rocks.

Can you believe how blue the ocean and sky are in this picture?  The water was so blue green and clear.